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MARY ELLEN COULD SEE AN IMMENSE WHITE CASTLE ENCLOSED 
BY A GREAT WHITE WALL 


THE HOUSE 
OF THE RED FOX 

By MIRIAM BYRNE 

1 / 

ILLUSTRAIKD HY 

ANNA MILO UPJOHN 





NEW YORK 

FREDERICK A. STOKES C03IPANY 

PUBl.lSHEKS 








LIBRARY ef C0M6RESS 
Two OoBles Recelvad 

JUL 18 I90r 


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Copyright, 1907, 

By Frederick A. Stokes Company 
Published in July, 1907 


All rights reserved 


This story of a motherless little girl 
is dedicated to the 
most motherly mother I ever knew 
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CONTENTS 


I. 

The Little Old Lady. 


. 

1 

II. 

Maky Ellen’s Disappointment . 



6 

III. 

The Ked-Haired Boy . 



11 

IV. 

The Enchanted Chopping-Bowl 



14 

V. 

Little House of Snow 



20 

VI. 

Mary Ellen’s New Home . 



24 

VII. 

Forest Friends .... 



28 

VIII. 

Story of the Foxes . 



35 

IX. 

Mary Ellen’s Journey 

% 



40 

X. 

Outside the Castle . 



44 

XI. 

Inside the Castle 



51 

XII. 

The Princess .... 



5G 

XIII. 

The Old Queen .... 



59 

XIV. 

Happy Days .... 



63 

XV. 

The Friendly Goat . 



68 

XVI. 

Adventures of the Red-Haired Boy 


7> 

XVII. 

The Queer Old Woman 



78 

XVIII. 

Mary Ellen and the Red-Haired Boy . 


86 

XIX. 

All Gone 



91 

XX. 

Little Old Lady 



97 

XXI. 

Sweet Home .... 



102 

XXII. 

Mary Ellen’s Aunt . 



105 

XXIII. 

Happy Forever After 



112 


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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Mary Ellen could see an immense white castle en- 
closed BY A GREAT WHITE WALL . . Frontispiece 


FACING 

PAGE 


But even as she spoke the dishes flew ovee her head 

INTO THE PANTRY 4 


/ 


Mary Ellen’s chopping-bowl went smooth and 

STRAIGHT DOWN THE HILL 16 


Mary Ellen wiped the dishes for Mrs. Fox . . 26 


The hands of the Snow Queen were like ice . . 58 

The Red-Haired Boy did not say a word until she 

HAD finished 72 


About noon on the third day they came to the forest 88 

They took their cake and went outside, each with 

A HAND ON THE BABY CARRIAGE 102 


§ 


IX 




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THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 



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The House of the Red Fox 


CHAPTER I 

THE LITTLE OLD LADY 

I T was Saturday and Mary Ellen had 
worked hard all day. Her aunt had 
called her early that morning because 
there was so much Saturday cleaning to do. 

There was a window beside the sink and 
Mary Ellen could look out and see the big hill 
where all the children were coasting and hav- 
ing a glorious time. 

“ I shall hurry up and get through with the 
breakfast dishes,” she said, “ and then I can go 
out to play.” 

But when the breakfast dishes were done 
Mary Ellen’s aunt had finished the sweeping 
and the rooms were ready for Mary Ellen to 
dust. When the dusting was done, it was time 
to peel the potatoes. When the potatoes were 
peeled it was time to set the table. And so 
the morning went with Mary Ellen busy all 
the time. 


1 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


“ I must hurry, hurry, hurry,” said Mary 
Ellen after dinner. “ Then when I get 
through with these dishes perhaps auntie will 
let me go out to coast on the hill.” 

Poor little Mary Ellen ! When the dishes 
were done there was mending to do. She was 
just learning to mend and had to be very care- 
ful to get it neat. So it took her a long time. 
When it was at last finished there were more 
potatoes to peel for supper and the table to set. 
And so the afternoon had gone and Mary El- 
len had been too busy to go out to play with 
the’ other children. 

As she cleared the supper table she looked 
at the clock. 

“ It is half-past seven now,” she said, “ and 
it will be half-past eight before I am through. 
Then all the children will go in. Besides I 
shall be too tired to do anything but go to 
bed. How I wish I had a sister to wipe the 
dishes for me. How I wish my dear mother 
were alive. She would not let me work so 
hard all the time, but would want me to go out 
and play.” 

When she thought of her mother who was 
dead, the big tears came to her eyes and she 
could hardly keep from crying. 

She left the window shade up so that she 
could watch the boys and girls in their long 
swift ride from the top of the hill away to the 
2 


THE LITTLE OLD LADY 


end. There were all sorts of sleds and all 
sorts of children. There were little boys who 
laid flat on their “ bob-sleds ” and went down 
alone. There were big boys who had big sleds 
that held two or three or four. There was one 
boy, a Red-haired Boy, with a great big sled 
that held six by crowding. 

There were girls too. Little girls who hung 
after their brothers and coaxed to be taken 
down. Big girls who did not have to coax 
their brothers because the other big boys al- 
ways took them down. 

“ They do not know how lucky they are,” 
said Mary Ellen, as she turned away from the 
window, “ to have mothers and fathers and 
brothers and sisters.” 

She lifted the heavy tea-kettle from the 
stove and poured some hot water into the dish 
pan. Just as she was starting the dishes there 
was a knock at the door. Mary Ellen opened 
it and saw a Little Old Lady standing on the 
step. The old lady was leaning on a stout 
cane and bending over as if she were tired or 
weak. The bonnet she wore was so big that 
Mary Ellen could hardly see her face. Her 
dress was black and very plain and shabby. 

“ I am cold and tired,” said the Little Old 
Lady. “ May I come in and rest? ” 

“ Yes,” said Mary Ellen, “ come in and I 
shall make you some tea to warm you up.” 

3 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


She put a chair near the fire so the Little 
Old Lady could put her feet on the hearth 
and warm them. Then she made some nice 
fresh tea and toasted bread. 

“ You are a good, kind little girl,” said the 
old lady, “ and I shall reward you by doing 
the dishes so that you may go out and play.” 

Mary Ellen clapped her hands. 

“ Oh, how lovely,” she cried. Then she 
stopped. ” But you are tired,” she added, 
“ and you are a stranger, too. My aunt might 
not like it if I left you here alone.” 

“ The tiredness does not matter,” said the 
Little Old Lady, “ because I can have the 
dishes done in a second.” 

She waved her cane. The dish cloth started 
to spin around and the dish towel flew from 
the line where it hung. The dishes rose right 
out of the pan and were wiped by the towel 
as fast as they were washed. In a moment 
they were no longer soiled and greasy. They 
stood in a bright, clean pile on the kitchen 
table. 

Of course Mary Ellen was delighted. 

“ All I have to do now,” she said, “ is to put 
them away.” 

But even as she spoke the dishes flew over 
her head and into the pantry. Mary Ellen 
was afraid they might drop and be broken so 
she ran into the pantry to see if they were 
4 



BUT, EVEN AS SHE SPOKE, THE DISHES FLEW OVER HER HEAD 

INTO THE PANTRY 





THE LITTLE OLD LADY 


safe. There they were, all neatly put away 
just where they belonged. 

“ You see that everything is all right,” said 
the Little Old Lady, “ now run out and play. 
I shall sit here beside the stove and mind the 
kitchen and no one will know the difference.” 

So Mary Ellen put on her tam-o’-shanter and 
coat and ran out. 


5 


CHAPTER II 

MARY ELLEN’S DISAPPOINTMENT 

W HEN she got out of the yard and 
down to the corner where she could 
seethe sleds go racing past and hear 
the shouts and laughter of the boys and girls, 
Mary Ellen became so excited she started to 
run. In just a few moments she had reached 
the top of the long hill, all out of breath. 

She was so excited she hardly noticed where 
she was going and bumped into a little group 
of boys and girls. Then she stumbled and 
fell into a big mound of soft snow. The chil- 
dren thought it great fun to see her sprawling 
around. One boy pushed a girl down on top 
of her. The girl pulled the boy and all the 
rest of the children joined in the fun. In a 
moment Mary Ellen was at the bottom of a 
mass of boys and girls, all kicking and push- 
ing and rolling. Those at the bottom got the 
worst of it, and Mary Ellen, who was not 
used to such rough play, was stiff and bruised 
when they got up. However, she took the 
play as good fun and followed the group of 
children as they got in line to coast, hoping 
6 


MARY ELLEN’S DISAPPOINTMENT 

they might take her down on their sleds. 
But they had just enough sleds for themselves 
and poor Mary Ellen was left at the top of the 
hill all alone. 

She stood and watched them load up and go 
off, but every sled was full so no one asked her 
to go down. After a while she began to feel 
cold and had to jump and hop from one foot 
to the other to keep warm. But her clothes 
had got wet in the snow pile and there was no 
warmth in them. Then her ankle began to 
hurt where one of the children had kicked it 
in the scramble. She had jrrst made up her 
mind to give up all hopes of a ride and go 
home when the Red-haired Boy, with the big 
sled that held six, came up. 

“ I am going to take little ones this time,” 
he cried. “ Anybody who has not got a sled 
can come. All aboard.” 

Mary Ellen’s heart bounded as she ran over 
to his sled. She did not like to push and 
shove ahead of the others and before she knew 
what had happened the sled was full. Down 
the hill it went and left Mary Ellen standing 
alone at the top again. 

“ Next time I’ll push and shove like the 
rest,” she said to herself as she heard the 
shouts of the little ones as they clung to one 
another as the sled flew down the hill. So 
she waited for the Red-haired Boy to come up 
7 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

with his sled. She waited a long, long time, 
but he did not come. 

“ He must have gone home,” said Mary 
Ellen. 

Then she noticed that almost all the little 
children had gone and that only the big 
boys and girls were left. She hoped that 
some of these big boys and girls might take 
her down with them because she was so little 
and did not have a sled of her own. She 
waited and waited until her teeth chattered 
with the cold and her ankle hurt so badly she 
could hardly walk. Then she limped down 
the hill, across the street, through the yard 
and into the kitchen. 

The Little Old Lady had gone and the 
kitchen fire was almost out. With cold, stiff 
fingers Mary Ellen shook the fire down and 
put more wood in the stove. Sad and cold 
and tired, she at last crept into her lonely 
little bed without having had one ride. 

Sunday morning she had a sore throat ; 
her aunt made her stay in bed all day and 
drink hot ginger tea. Mary Ellen did not 
like the ginger tea, she did not like to stay 
in bed, and altogether she felt very miser- 
able. All day she kept hoping that the 
Little Old Lady might come and charm the 
cold away. All day she lay in bed, so sad and 
lonely, with no one to comfort her. All 
8 


MARY ELLEN’S DISAPPOINTMENT 


evening she listened and listened for a knock 
on the kitchen door. But the Little Old 
Lady did not come. 

However, the ginger tea and the warmth 
and rest did good work and Monday morning 
Mary Ellen felt much better. Monday night, 
just as she was about to start the dishes there 
came the same soft, timid little knock at the 
door. She ran to open it. There stood the 
same Little Old Lady, in the same little old 
black dress, leaning on her big cane. The 
Little Old Lady walked right in and sat down 
beside the stove. 

“ Did you have a good time coasting ? ” she 
asked. 

Mary Ellen did not like to disappoint her 
by saying she had not had a nice time, but 
still she had to tell the truth. 

“ It was awfully good of you to do the 
dishes so I could go out,” she said, “ but ” 

“ There,” said the Little Old Lady, “ I was 
afraid the other children might be too selfish 
to take you on their sleds. I ought to have 
thought of that sooner. Well, never mind. 
To-night I shall do the dishes so that you can 
go out and have the most glorious time of 
your life.” 

“ If I only could,” said Mary Ellen, with a 
sigh. 

“ You can,” said the Little Old Lady. “ I 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

shall give you a charm to say and you will be 
sure of getting a chance to coast.” 

Mary Ellen grew quite excited and ran to 
fetch her coat and tam-o’-shanter. Before she 
went out the Little Old Lady waved her cane 
over the dishes. As on Saturday, the dish 
cloth washed them, the towel wiped them, 
and they all flew to their proper places in the 
pantry. 

When Mary Ellen was ready to go the 
Little Old Lady said, 

“ This is the charm. Go to the top of the 
hill. There you will see a Red-haired Boy, 
standing under the lamp-post. Go up to this 
boy and say, ‘ How-do.’ ” 

“ Yes,” said Mary Ellen, anxious to hear 
the rest. “ What else shall I say ? ” 

“ He will say, ‘ Hello.’ Be sure to wait 
for him to say ‘ Hello.’ Then you must say, 
— ‘ I have never gone down the hill on a sled.’ 
That is the charm.” 

“ I am afraid he will think I am hinting,” 
said Mary Ellen. 

“ No,” said the Little Old Lady, “ he will 
not think that. It is a good charm. You 
will see how well it will work.” 

So again Mary Ellen started out. 


10 


CHAPTER III 


THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

U NDER the lamp-post at the top of the 
hill, stood the Red-haired Boy who 
owned the big sled. 

It was hard for Mary Ellen to go up and 
say “How-do” to a boy she did not know. 
But it was part of the charm and she had to 
do it. So she walked over very quickly and 
said it in a low, frightened voice. Then she 
waited for the boy to speak. 

“ Hello,” said he, looking down at her in 
surprise. 

“ I have never gone down the hill on a 
sled,” said Mary Ellen. 

“ Jiminy,” cried the Red-haired Boy. 
“ That is a shame. You do not know what 
you have missed. Come on down.” 

Mary Ellen sat down on the sled and the 
Red-haired Boy pulled her over to the starting 
place. He sat in front to steer and two boys 
and two girls got on in back. 

“ Everybody ready ! ” cried the Red-haired 
Boy. 

Away they went ! Mary Ellen held on 
11 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

tight and tried to catch her breath. She was 
not frightened, but she had the queerest feel- 
ing, — -just as if most of her had been left be- 
hind at the top of the hill. Down, down, 
down, fast and straight went the “ Six- 
shooter ” with its load of shouting boys and 
girls. Before Mary Ellen had caught her 
breath they were at the bottom of the hill and 
her first ride was over. 

The second time she was able to catch her 
breath sooner. Again and again the red- 
haired boy took her down on his sled. But 
never again did she have that same glorious, 
breathless feeling that she had the first time. 

The Red-haired Boy wanted every one to 
have a fair chance, so he made the other chil- 
dren take turns. 

“ But you just stay on,” he said to Mary 
Ellen. “ You do not have to take turns.” 

So it was Mary Ellen’s turn all the time. 

The other children shouted and talked, but 
Mary Ellen just held on tight and kept say- 
ing to herself, “ Oh, what luck.” 

Finally the Red-haired Boy said, 

“ All aboard for the last trip on the ‘ Six- 
shooter,’ ” and they went down for the last 
time that night. 

When they got to the bottom they went 
over to the little bake-shop at the corner. 
There was a sign, in the window, 

12 


THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

“ Hot Butter Buns. 

One for a cent. 

Six for a nickel.” 

“ Hurray,” said the Red-haired Boy, feeling 
in his pocket. “ I have a nickel so I can 
treat you all.” 

While they were standing around the stove 
in the little bake-shop, eating their buns, the 
Red-haired Boy told Mary Ellen that he and 
his father had made the “ Six-shooter.” 

“ Saturday we made a little house of snow,” 
he said. “ I wish you could see it. The 
cutest little house, — nice enough for anybody 
to live in.” 

“ I wish I could see it,” said Mary Ellen. 
“ Your father must be awfully nice.” 

“ He is,” said the Red-haired Boy. “ He is 
the doctor. He and my mother are away 
now. I wish they would come back.” 

When the other children went home, Mary 
Ellen had to tear herself away from the best 
time she had ever had. She was too tired 
and happy to mind the cold, hard bed and 
quickly fell asleep to dream of little old ladies, 
red-haired boys, big six-shooter sleds, and a 
little house of snow. 


13 


CHAPTER IV 


THE ENCHANTED CHOPPING-BOWL 

O N Tuesday night the folks were through 
with supper early. Mary Ellen had 
finished the dishes at half-past seven 
and was so anxious to get out that she did not 
wait for the Little Old Lady. She left the 
kitchen door unlocked for her, however, and 
poked the fire so that the kitchen would be 
nice and warm. Then she quickly ran to the 
top of the hill and stood under the lamp-post 
to watch for the Red-haired Boy. 

After she had been waiting a long time she 
at last saw the “ Six-shooter.” But another 
boy was pulling it. 

“ Reddy went skating,” said this boy to the 
others, “ and he let me take the ‘ Six-shooter.’ ” 
Mary Ellen’s heart fell for she knew there 
was no hope of her getting a ride if the Red- 
haired Boy did not come. 

“ I might as well go home, now,” she said 
sadly. “ No use in standing around and 
catching cold the way I did Saturday night.” 
When she opened the kitchen door she saw 
14 


THE ENCHANTED CHOPPING-BOWL 

the Little Old Lady warming herself at the 
stove. 

“ Back so soon ? ’’ said the Little Old Lady. 
“ What is the matter? ” 

“ The Red-haired Boy is the only one who 
had room for me on his sled,” said Mary 
Ellen. “ He went skating to-night so I 
thought I might as well come home. I was 
hoping you would be here.” 

“ Here I am,” answered the Little Old 
Lady. “ I would not forget you, my dear 
little girl. Just wait until you see what a 
fine sled I shall fix up for you.” 

The Little Old Lady thought for a few mo- 
ments. Then she said, 

“ Have you a chopping-bowl ? ” 

Mary Ellen brought the chopping-howl 
out. 

“ Now,” said the Little Old Lady, “ I am 
going to give you a charm.” 

She handed Mary Ellen a little gold trinket 
that looked like a small watch or locket. 

“ Whenever you are in trouble,” she said, 
“ open this charm and read what it says. 
Then obey.” 

Mary Ellen opened the charm right away. 
But its face was blank. 

“ It will never give you advice,” said the 
Little Old Lady, “ unless you really need it. 
Now I am going to enchant this chopping- 
15 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

bowl so that it will go more smoothly and 
swiftly than the finest toboggan sled that was 
ever built.” 

She waved her cane around and over the 
chopping-bowl. Then she tapped it seven 
times inside and crossed it seven times on the 
outside. 

“ Put the charm in your pocket,” she said. 
“ Take the chopping-bowl to the top of the 
hill and you will have the finest sled of all.” 

“ Don’t you think the other children will 
laugh at me ? ” asked Mary Ellen. 

“ Maybe they will,” was the answer. “ But 
you must not mind if they do. Obey the 
charm and I promise you everything will be 
well.” 

Mary Ellen was afraid she could not help 
minding if they laughed at her. She opened 
the charm and it said, “ Go.” The other charm 
had worked so well that she thought it best 
to obey. So she took the chopping-bowl in 
her arms and went out. 

The bowl was an awkward thing to carry 
and Ma?ry Ellen had some trouble in getting 
to the top* of the slippery hill. All the other 
children wondered what she was going to do. 
Mary Ellen wished they would not stare and 
whisper and giggle. She hated to get into the 
chopping-bowl with them all watching her. 
But the charm said “get in.” So in she got. 

IG 



MARY ELLKN's CHOPPING-BOWL WENT SMOOTH AND STRAIGHT 

DOWN THE PULL 





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THE ENCHANTED CHOPPING-BOWL 

When the enchanted chopping-bowl started 
off the other children gave a great shout. 
The bowl went like the wind, faster than the 
big “ Six-shooter ” or any sled that had ever 
gone down that hill. But poor little Mary 
Ellen thought the children were making fun 
of her and felt ashamed because she could not 
have a real sled. If she had only known 
what the children at the top of the hill were 
saying she might not have felt so badly. 

“ Just watch that chopping-bowl fly,” said 
one. 

“ It is better than any sled I ever saw,” said 
another. 

“ I am going home to get my mother’s 
chopping-bowl,” said a boy who lived nearby. 

The next night three boys and one little 
girl appeared with chopping-bowls. But none 
of them went like Mary Ellen’s. They rocked 
and tipped and spilt. In fact they did every- 
thing but go properly. 

Mary Ellen’s chopping-bowl, without any- 
one to steer or balance, went smooth and 
straight down the hill, away, ’way past the 
place where even the best sleds “ let the old 
cat die.” Mary Ellen was too unhappy to 
notice how far and how fast she was going 
until she felt herself switched around a corner. 
Then she took a tighter hold on the edge and 
looked around. She found herself on the 
17 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

finest street in town, skimming down the mid- 
dle of the snowy road as swift and light as a 
bird. 

There was a horse hitched to a cutter in 
front of the doctor’s house. As the bowl 
whizzed by the horse shied. A man shouted, 
“ Stop there.” A policeman cried, “ Halt,” 
pulled out his club, and started to run after 
Mary Ellen. She was frightened, but the 
bowl went faster and faster and left the po- 
liceman puzzled and out of breath at the first 
corner. 

Mary Ellen saw people raising shades and 
putting their heads out of windows to ask one 
another what the excitement was all about. 
She laughed to think that she, plain little 
Mary Ellen, should cause so much disturbance 
on such a fine street. 

They turned another corner. There under 
a lamp-post, with his skates slung over his 
shoulder, stood the Red-haired Boy. He gave 
a long whistle of surprise as he saw Mary 
Ellen speeding down the middle of the road 
in a chopping-bowl. As she passed him he 
shouted, “ Whoa ” and started to chase the 
chopping-bowl. 

“ Go slow, go slow,” Mary Ellen said to 
the chopping-bowl, almost thinking it could 
understand. 

But the chopping-bowl kept right on and in 
18 


THE ENCHANTED CHOPPING-BOWL 

a few minutes the Red-haired Boy was out of 
sight. 

Then Mary Ellen began to get frightened. 
She wondered where the chopping-bowl was 
going to take her. She wondered if it would 
ever stop. They soon passed the last house 
on the street and were in the open country 
road with nothing in sight but trees and fields. 
Snow began to fall and in a little while 
covered Mary Ellen with a coat, hood and 
blanket of purest white. 

“ I hate to be a cry baby,” said Mary Ellen 
as she cuddled down and sobbed herself to 
sleep. 


19 


CHAPTER V 

THE LITTLE HOUSE OF SNOW 

S HE was awakened by a jerk that almost 
threw her out of the chopping-bowl. It 
had stopped in front of a little white 
house. After looking at the house for a 
moment Mary Ellen decided to get out and 
look closer. 

A light was shining through the cracks of 
the door and through the red curtain of the 
one window. Smoke was coming out of the 
chimney. When Mary Ellen rested her hands 
on the window sill and tried to peak in, she 
found that the house was made of snow. The 
curtain was drawn away down so she could 
not see anything at the window. But there 
was a sign on the door that said 

“ Doctor Fox ” 

She tried to peak through the key-hole, but 
there was a key on the inside. She listened 
and could just barely hear voices. So she 
knocked at the door. The door being made 
of snow, the knock made no sound. 

20 


THE LITTLE HOUSE OF SNOW 


Then Mary Ellen remembered the charm. 
She opened it and read the words, “ Go in.” 
So she opened the door and walked in. 

It had been so dark outside that the light 
in the room blinded her for a moment. Some 
one had been cooking, for Mary Ellen could 
smell something nice like chicken soup and 
cinnamon rolls. It reminded her that she was 
hungry. There was a roaring fire in the fire- 
place. It reminded her that she was cold. 

“ What a nice place,” she thought. 

And then Her eyes became used to 

the light and she saw a fox, a real live fox, 
sitting in a big armchair beside the fire. 
Mary Ellen was terribly frightened, too fright- 
ened to move or think. She could only stand 
and gaze in terror at the fox. 

He dropped his newspaper on his lap and 
looked at Mary Ellen over the tops of his 
spectacles. 

“ Mother,” he cried, “ come here.” 

“ Maybe the mother will want to feed me to 
the baby foxes,” thought Mary Ellen, as she 
tried to open the door. But she could not 
turn the knob. She tried to turn the key, but 
it would not turn. 

Then another fox came into the room, stood 
right beside her, and said, 

“ Well, father ! Of all things I never ex- 
pected to see a real little girl here.” 

21 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

The father fox saw that Mary Ellen was 
frightened, so he said, 

“ Do not be frightened, poor child. How 
did you ever get here ? ” 

Mrs. Fox pulled a rocking-chair over be- 
side the fire and told Mary Ellen to sit down. 

“ No wonder she was frightened,” said Dr. 
Fox with a sigh. 

His wife sighed, too, and they both looked 
very sad. They seemed so kind that Mary 
Ellen did not want them to feel sad. So she 
sat down in the little chair and said in a 
trembling voice, 

“ I am not frightened — very much.” 

The heat of the fire made her feel faint and 
dizzy. She closed her eyes and moaned. The 
next thing she knew, Mrs. Fox had taken off 
her cold wet clothes and wrapped her in a big 
warm blanket. Dr. Fox felt her pulse and 
looked at her tongue. 

‘‘ She is cold and hungry,” he said. “ Bring 
her some of that hot chicken soup and some 
cinnamon rolls.” 

After she had eaten, Mary Ellen began to 
feel better. 

“We have a bed that will just fit you,” 
said Mrs. Fox. 

She went into the next room and brought 
out sheets and blankets which she warmed at 
the fire. Mary Ellen was too sleepy to 
22 


THE LITTLE HOUSE OF SNOW 

wonder at all the strange things that were 
happening. When the sheets were warm 
Mrs. Fox made up the bed and put Mary El- 
len in it. 

Mary Ellen felt so grateful that she put 
her arms around Mrs. Fox’s neck and 
hugged her. Then she turned over and went 
to sleep. 

Mrs. Fox went back to the other room and 
sat down beside the doctor. He took his 
pipe out of his mouth, wiped his spectacles, 
and said in a sad voice, 

“ She is a nice little girl, mother. We 
must be good to her.” 

“ Yes,” said Mrs. Fox. “ We will keep her 
here and be good to her for the sake of ” 

Mrs. Fox could say no more, but began to 
cry, softly and quietly, but oh, so sadly. 

Dr. Fox patted her on the shoulder and 
said, 

“ There, there. Everything will turn out 
right after a while.” 

But he, too, had to take off his spectacles 
again to wi pe his eyes. Then they sat for a long 
time in silence, — Dr. Fox puffing away at his 
pipe and Mrs. Fox softly weeping. 


23 


CHAPTER VI 


MARY ELLEN’S NEW HOME 

I T was late the next morning when Mary 
Ellen awoke. She could hear some one 
moving around in the next room and she 
wondered if all that she remembered of the 
night before had really happened or was only 
a dream. She slid softly out of bed and crept 
ever so softly to the door. She tried to open 
it without making a noise. But the door 
creaked and Mrs. Fox turned and saw her. 

“ Good-morning,” she said. “ Have you 
had enough sleep ? ” 

“ Yes, ma’am,” said Mary Ellen. “ Where 
are my clothes? ” 

“ Here they are, warm and dry. Come out 
and dress by the fire.” 

As Mary Ellen was used to doing every- 
thing for herself it was almost like having a 
real mother when Mrs. Fox buttoned her 
dress, tied her shoes, brushed her hair, and 
brought warm water for her to wash. 

“ Father and I had breakfast long ago,” 
said Mrs. Fox, “ so you can just eat at this lit- 
tle table.” 


24 


MARY ELLEN’S NEW HOME 

So she boiled a nice fresh egg, warmed a 
bowl of milk, and took some hot rolls out of 
the oven. Then she set the little table and 
placed it beside the window. 

Looking out of the window Mary Ellen 
saw that the house was in a big, thick forest. 
There was no path or road anywhere in sight, 
but there were the tracks of a great many 
animals in the snow. The trees were bare of 
leaves, but the heavy snow-storm had clothed 
them and they now sparkled beautifully in 
the morning sun. The ground in front of 
the house sloped down to the narrow river 
which was frozen as smooth and hard as 
glass. 

As Mary Ellen was eating her breakfast and 
looking out of the window she saw a little 
brown animal come running up the slope. 

“ That looks like the picture of a beaver in 
my reader,” she said to Mrs. Fox. 

Mrs. Fox went over to the window and 
looked out. 

“ That is little Tommy Beaver,” she said. 
“ I suppose he is coming for the doctor.” 

She opened the door and Tommy Beaver 
came in. 

“ Oh, where is the doctor? ” he said. “ My 
father has hurt his foot. It got caught in a 
trap and he pulled it out.” 

Mary Ellen shuddered. 

25 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ The doctor is at the gray squirrel’s,” said 
Mrs. Fox. “You may meet him coming back. 
Go by the Big Rabbit-hole. One of the rab- 
bit children was not feeling well yesterday 
and he may have stopped there.” 

At noon when the doctor came home for 
his dinner Mrs. Fox asked him if he had seen 
Tommy Beaver. 

“ Yes,” said Dr. Fox, “ I just came from 
there. His father’s foot was not very 
bad this time. The river is just full of 
beaver traps. It is a wonder that more of the 
little fellows are not caught. They have to 
keep a pretty good watch out for them.” 

“ How is the rabbit baby ? ” asked Mrs. Fox. 

The doctor shook his head. 

“ Pretty bad,” he said. “ She never was 
strong, poor little thing, and this cold snap 
has about done her up. It is going to be 
colder to-night, too.” 

“ Well then you had better bring in some 
wood,” said his wife. 

“ Can I do anything to help you ? ” asked 
Mary Ellen as she thought she had been sit- 
ting around idle long enough and ought to 
help the kind doctor and his wife. 

The doctor told her she could gather twigs 
and small branches while he chopped the big 
logs. So they went out together. 

When she had gathered quite a little bundle 
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MARY ELLEN’S NEW HOME 


of twigs, Mary Ellen went back to the house 
and wiped the dinner dishes for Mrs. Fox. 
Dr. Fox smoked a pipe before he started on 
his rounds and both he and his wife talked to 
Mary Ellen just as if she were their own lit- 
tle girl. 

In the evening after supper they all sat 
around the fire again. Mrs. Fox sewed on a 
little dress she had started for Mary Ellen and 
told her all about the animal people in the 
forest around them. Dr. Fox read the paper, 
smoked his pipe and told jokes. Altogether 
they were like a happy little family. 

As Mrs. Fox tucked her in bed, Mary Ellen 
hugged her again and said, 

“I never was so happy in my life. You 
are like a real mother and this is like a real 
home.” 

When Mrs. Fox went back to the other 
room she told the doctor what Mary Ellen had 
said. 

“ Oh, dear,” she cried, “ it makes me think 
so much of our own ” 

“ There, there, mother,” said Dr. Fox. “ Do 
not worry. Everything will turn out all right, 
I am sure.” 


27 


CHAPTER VII 


FOREST FRIENDS 

T he next morning Mary Ellen was up 
bright and early. Mrs. Fox was 
going to market, so the doctor waited 
until she was ready, as the Rabbit’s Hole lay 
in the same direction. 

When they had gone Mary Ellen washed 
the dishes, swept the floor and straightened 
up the kitchen so as to surprise Mrs. Fox when 
she came home. She sang happily as she 
worked. This was just like “ playing house ” 
after the hard work she had done in her aunt’s 
house. 

She was in her bedroom, making up her 
bed, when she heard a tap on the window- 
pane. Turning, she saw a squirrel sitting out- 
side on the sill, wildly waving her beautiful tail 
and chattering as if she were excited. Mary 
Ellen raised the window and let her in. 

“ Oh,” said the squirrel, “ I tried to get in 
the front way, but I could not make you hear. 
Where is the doctor ? ” 

“ I do not know where he is by this time,” 
28 


FOREST FRIENDS 


said Mary Ellen. “ He started for the Rabbit’s 
Hole.” 

“ 1 stopped there on my way over,” said the 
squirrel, “ and they told me he had gone. 
What shall I do ? ” 

“ What has happened ? ” asked Mary Ellen 
in great alarm. 

“ My poor husband,” said the squirrel, 
“ slipped and fell from a very high branch. 
He hurt himself so badly he cannot move 
and he is lying out there freezing to death.” 

“ That is dreadful,” said Mary Ellen. “ Per- 
haps I could carry him here and keep him 
warm until the doctor comes.” 

“ If you only would,” said the squirrel with 
tears in her sweet little eyes. 

So Mary Ellen bundled up very warmly and 
went off with the squirrel. The poor squirrel 
was so anxious that she ran and leaped ahead 
until Mary Ellen was breathless trying to keep 
up with her. When they reached the injured 
squirrel the poor little fellow was stiff with the 
cold. Mary Ellen took him up gently and 
held him close to her own body to keep him 
warm as they went back to the little house of 
snow. 

There, Mary Ellen did for the squirrel very 
much what Mrs. Fox had done for her the 
night she arrived. She rubbed and rubbed 
until the poor little squirrel ached all over. 

29 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

But the doctor had told Mary Ellen that that 
was the best way to get the warm red blood 
running through the body. So she kept right 
on. She made him drink hot milk and then 
wrapped him in a warm little blanket and 
held him in her arms near the fire. He was 
sleeping quite comfortably when the doctor 
came home in the evening. 

It was so terribly cold by this time that 
Mrs. Fox would not let him go home. So the 
two squirrels cuddled into the big armchair 
and stayed all night. 

Mary Ellen had been staying at the little 
house of snow only a few days before she knew 
almost all of the animals in the neighbourhood. 
One day she saw a hare with his foot caught in 
a trap. The poor hare was afraid of human 
beings, and was terribly frightened when he 
saw Mary Ellen going towards him. But when 
she spoke to him kindly and gently he knew 
that she must be the little girl who was stay- 
ing at the doctor’s house. He asked her to 
try to free his foot. Mary Ellen fussed and 
worked at it until her fingers were numb with 
cold. At last she set the hare free with no 
worse results than a sore, stiff foot. He never 
forgot this kindness. All the animals heard 
how Mary Ellen had freed the hare and rescued 
the squirrel and loved her for it. 

30 


FOREST FRIENDS 

Another day Tommy Beaver came running 
up to the house. 

“ My mother got caught in a trap,” he 
said. “ I came to see if Mary Ellen would set 
her free.” 

“ Where is the trap ? ” asked Mrs. Fox. 

“At the first curve in the river,” said 
Tommy. 

“ In the water ? ” asked Mrs. Fox. 

“ Yes,” said Tommy. 

“ I could not let Mary Ellen get in the 
water,” said Mrs. Fox. “ She might catch a 
terrible cold. I shall go myself.” 

Tommy was afraid Mrs. Fox would not 
know how as well as Mary Ellen. He ran 
down the slope and jumped in the river and 
swam along close to the bank. Mrs. Fox and 
Mary Ellen walked along near him. Tommy 
was a fast swimmer and had to stop and go 
back every little while as he did not want to 
get too far ahead of them. 

When they came to the first turn in the 
river they could see Tommy’s mother watch- 
ing anxiously for them. Mrs. Fox jumped 
into the river and tried to find the spring of 
the trap. She worked at it until Tommy’s 
mother cried with discouragement. 

Then Mary Ellen, who had been running 
up and down on the bank trying to keep 
warm, insisted on stepping into the river to 
31 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


see what she could do to help. The water 
was icy and Mary Ellen screamed when she 
put her foot into it. But she did not turn 
back. She held the trap while Mrs. Fox 
pushed the spring and in a few moments Mrs. 
Beaver was free. 

Mrs. Fox and Mary Ellen ran home as fast 
as they could to get warm and dry. Now 
Mary Ellen had three good friends, — the hare, 
the squirrel, and the beaver. 

All the animals in this forest seemed gentle 
and timid. The hare showed Mary Ellen 
where he lived under a clump of evergreen 
bushes. The bushes were so thick and close 
that the snow did not get to the long, brown 
grass and dry leaves underneath. It was a 
soft warm bed for the hare and his family. 

When Mary Ellen was out gathering twigs 
and fire-wood she often wandered in the direc- 
tion of the hare’s home to see him and his 
sturdy children. 

Dr. Fox took her to see the rabbit children 
and she became quite fond of the dear little 
things. When the poor little rabbit baby 
died Mary Ellen made a nice little grave and 
buried her. 

She knew the particular tree where the gray 
squirrel lived, but his nest was in a hole too 
high up for her to reach it. 

The only animal she feared was the old 
32 


FOREST FRIENDS 


wolf. He came to the little house of snow 
one night, opened the door, and walked in. 
He looked so thin and wild and hungry that 
Mary Ellen was frightened and ran over to 
sit beside Dr. Fox. 

The old wolf laughed when he saw she was 
frightened. 

“ A nice, sweet little girl,” he said in a gruff 
voice. “ I could eat her up.” Then he 
laughed again. 

“ Don’t tease the child,” said the doctor 
sternly. “ What do you wish here? ” 

“ My old wound is hurting me,” he said. 
“ I think I must have caught cold in it.” 

The doctor looked at the old shot wound 
and put some medicine on it. The old wolf 
looked so hungry that Mrs. Fox brought out 
good meat and fed him. 

“ May I lie before the fire and rest and get 
warm before I go ? ” asked the old wolf. 

They were too kind to refuse him, so the 
old wolf stretched out before the fire and fell 
asleep. Then the doctor and his wife did not 
have the heart to waken him and send him 
out in the cold. So he slept there all night. 
Mrs. Fox pulled Mary Ellen’s little bed into 
her own room and locked the door. 

“ Now,” she said, “ you can sleep in peace. 
You will know that I am right beside you and 
need not worry about the old wolf.” 

33 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

Mary Ellen hugged her again and fell asleep 
without any fear of the old wolf. 

Mrs. Fox went back to the doctor and said : 

“ I am glad we took that dear child in. 
But, oh, she does make me think so much of 
our own ” 

“ There, there, mother,” said the doctor, 
“ everything will turn out for the best in the 
end.” 


34 


CHAPTER VIII 


STORY OF THE FOXES 

M ary ELLEN knew that there must 
be men in the forest to set the traps, 
but she liked the forest folk so well 
that she had no wish to go back to people of 
her own kind. 

One day when she had been to see the rab- 
bit children, she was hurrying home in the 
twilight, afraid she would be late for supper. 
She almost ran into two men with guns over 
their shoulders. She saw them just in time to 
jump behind a tree. 

“ What was that? ” cried one of them, rais- 
ing his gun to shoot. 

“ Your own shadow,” said the other, laugh- 
ing. 

“ No, it was not,” his companion replied. 
“I am sure something jumped right in front 
of us. I am going to shoot in that direction 
anyhow, just to see if there is anything there.” 

Poor Mary Ellen. Her heart beat wildly 
with fright, but she dared not move. 

“ I know how the poor little animals feel 
35 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

now,” she thought, as she crouched behind 
the tree in fear and trembling. 

“ Do not waste your shot,” said the second 
man. “ You could not hit anything. No use 
shooting at shadows.” 

His companion put up his gun and they 
walked on. When they were out of sight 
Mary Ellen was so stiff with fright and the 
crouching that she could hardly walk. 

A few nights later Dr. Fox was reading one 
of his big medicine books and Mary Ellen 
was pulling the bastings out of the dress Mrs. 
Fox had made for her. They heard some one 
whistling near by in the forest. It was such a 
merry, happy-go-lucky whistle and it had 
been such a long time since Mary Ellen heard 
that sound that she was quite delighted. She 
ran to the window and peaked beneath the 
curtain. 

The moon was shining brightly and making 
a pathway of silver on the snow. Away, ’way 
down near the river, right where the moon- 
light shone most strongly, Mary Ellen saw, — 
the Red-haired Boy. 

“ Oh,” she cried in great excitement, “ look, 
look. There is the Red-haired Boy.” 

The doctor and his wife jumped up. 

“ Where,” they cried, “ oh, where ? ” 

Mary Ellen followed them as they ran to 
open the door, and all three tried to crowd 
36 


STORY OF THE FOXES 

through at once. When they got outside the 
Red-haired Boy was nowhere in sight. They 
ran down the slope and looked in every direc- 
tion. But he had disappeared. 

When they went back to the house Mrs. 
Fox lifted the corner of her apron to wipe the 
tears from her eyes. Again Dr. Fox patted 
her on the shoulder and said, 

“ There, there, mother, do not cry. I am 
sure things will turn out all right.” 

It grieved Mary Ellen to see that the doc- 
tor and his wife had a secret trouble. They 
had been just like the best and kindest father 
and mother in the world and had always tried 
to be bright and cheerful when Mary Ellen 
was around so that she would be happy. But 
she had not been with them long before she 
knew that there was some secret trouble which 
made them both very unhappy. 

“ Dear Mother Fox,” she said, “ tell me 
what it is that makes you so sad. You have 
been so good to me. Is there nothing I can 
do for you ? ” 

The doctor looked at his wife and his wife 
looked at him. 

“ Tell her,” said the doctor. “ I am sure 
we can trust her with our secret.” 

So Mrs. Fox began. 

“Well,” she said, “there is a great deal 
more to our story than I can tell you. But the 
37 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

principal thing is that we have a son and 
daughter who are human like you. We are 
kept away from them and dare not go near 
them. Now our daughter is very ill and we 
are afraid she will die.” 

“ Oh,” said Mary Ellen, “ cannot the doctor 
cure her ? ” 

“ I could cure her quickly enough,” said the 
doctor, “ if I could only go to her. But she is 
a princess now and they will not let me near 
her.” 

“ You see,” went on Mrs. Fox, “ she is the 
Princess of the Snow and lives in a castle of 
ice. All the people she lives with are snow 
people and she is freezing to death, because 
they do not know what to do to keep her 
warm and well. Oh, if I could only go to her 
I would nurse her and take such good care of 
her that she would be well very soon.” 

“ If I could only go to her,” sighed the doc- 
tor. “ I would soon have her well and strong 
as she used to he.” 

Mary Ellen felt so sorry for the poor prin- 
cess that she could hardly sleep all night. 
She kept wishing she could do something and 
wondering if she could not help in some way. 

In the morning she had a great idea. She 
jumped out of bed and ran out to the kitchen 
when the doctor and his wife were eating 
breakfast. 


38 


STORY OF THE FOXES 

“ Could I go to the princess ? ” she cried. 

“ What? ” said the doctor and his wife in 
great surprise. 

“ Oh,” said Mary Ellen, “ I have been 
thinking about the princess all night. And 
I thought that if I could go to her the doctor 
could tell me just what to do and I would try 
so hard to cure her.” 

Again the doctor and his wife looked at one 
another. The doctor shook his head. 

Dear little girl,” he said, “ we could not 
let you go. It would be too dangerous. If 
anything should happen to you we could 
never forgive ourselves.” 

“ I would not be afraid,” said Mary Ellen. 
“ Oh, if you think I could do any good, please, 
please let me go.” 

For a long time the doctor and his wife 
would not consent to her going as they were 
afraid that something might happen to her. 
But Mary Ellen was so anxious to do some- 
thing to return their kindness to her that she 
coaxed and begged until at last they said she 
might go. 


39 


CHAPTER IX 


MARY ELLEN’S JOURNEY 

HE next morning the Fox household 



was up bright and early for there was 


JL a great deal of work to do. Right 
after breakfast, Mrs. Fox opened a big chest 
and took from it a bolt of striped goods, blue 
and white, such as nurses’ dresses are made 
of. She cut and fitted and sewed all day, 
making two little nurse dresses for Mary Ellen. 

The doctor and Mary Ellen went into the 
forest to find roots and herbs to make medi- 
cine for the princess. They dug down into 
the ground and gathered roots of bushes. 
They cut the root of a tree. They plucked 
the dry leaves of one plant and gathered the 
dead leaves of another. They brushed the 
snow away and found some hardy weeds that 
had withstood the frost and cold. All these 
they put into a little basket and took home 
with them. 

Mrs. Fox took out every sauce-pan and ket- 
tle in the little house and made up a blazing 
fire. Then the doctor put the medicines on 
to boil and steep. When they were done he 


40 


MARY ELLEN’S JOURNEY 

set them outside to cool while he went off to 
see his patients. 

When the medicines had cooled Mary Ellen 
took seven little bottles out of the doctor’s 
medicine chest and filled them with seven dif- 
ferent kinds of medicine, just as the doctor had 
told her to do. 

All day Mrs. Fox sewed busily and when 
evening came she had finished two little caps, 
two little dresses, and two little white aprons for 
Mary Ellen. While Mrs. Fox was getting the 
supper Mary Ellen pulled the bastings out so 
that they would be all ready. 

After supper Dr. Fox got a little old satchel 
of his and packed the b^ottles in so that they 
would not break. Mrs. Fox put the caps, 
dresses and aprons in on top, and all was 
ready. 

“ Don’t you think I ought to start to-night ? ” 
said Mary Ellen. “ If the princess is so ill 
she may get worse and I do not want to get 
there so late.” 

“ That is true,” said the doctor. “ The 
sooner you get there the better it will be. It 
is a long journey, too. Even if we start to- 
night it will be late to-morrow when we get 
there.” 

So it seemed best to start at once. Mary 
Ellen put on the warm blue coat that Mrs. 
Fox had given her and said “ Good-bj^e ” to 
41 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


the little house of snow where she had been so 
happy. She cried a little as she hugged Mrs, 
Fox for she did not know how long it might 
be before she would see her again. 

“ Come back to us, Mary Ellen,” said Mrs. 
Fox, with tears in her eyes. “ Come back to 
us when the princess is strong and well.” 

The chopping-bowl, which had been stored 
away all this time, now came in very handy. 
The doctor had made a sort of rope harness to 
go around his neck and shoulders and fasten 
to the chopping-bowl. Mary Ellen got into 
the bowl, took the satchel from Mrs. Fox, and 
the doctor started off. He did not go at his 
greatest speed, but he kept up a sure, steady, 
fast trot that left many miles behind them be- 
fore morning. 

Mary Ellen had made up her mind to stay 
awake, but even as she was thinking about it 
she fell asleep. When it grew light and she 
awoke, they were in a part of the forest which 
she had never seen before. She asked the 
doctor how far they had come and where they 
were, but he was so tired and worn out he 
could not speak. 

Tired as he was in the morning after travel- 
ling all night, he did not stop to rest. When 
evening came he was a hundred times more 
tired than in the morning, but they were 
now so near to the castle of ice and the sick 
42 


MARY ELLEN’S JOURNEY 

princess, that he would not rest until they 
were in sight of the place. 

Just as night fell he stopped on the top of 
a hill. Away, ’way down in the valley be- 
low, Mary Ellen could see an immense white 
castle enclosed by a great white wall. Dr. 
Fox pointed at the place and Mary Ellen un- 
derstood. He gravely shook hands with her, 
too weak and weary to say “ Good-bye.” As 
Mary Ellen started down the hill towards the 
castle, the poor fox laid down under a tree 
and fell asleep. There in the cold he slept 
until morning, too tired to move. When 
morning came, he looked at the castle where 
the princess lay sick and perhaps dying, and 
wondered if Mary Ellen had got there safely. 
He dared not go any nearer, so he turned and 
started for home. 


43 


CHAPTER X 


OUTSIDE THE CASTLE 

W HEN Mary Ellen left the doctor she 
walked quickly down the hill, glad 
that her journey was almost at an 
end. The doctor and Mrs. Fox had told her 
there would be danger, but somehow she did 
not feel afraid. 

“ I shall go right up to the entrance,” she 
said to herself, “ and tell them I have come to 
nurse the princess. I am sure they will be 
glad to let me in then.” 

As she drew nearer she saw that the big wall 
was built like a fort with windows high up all 
the way around. There were lights inside and 
Mary Ellen saw that a soldier was posted at 
each window. Each soldier had a gun in his 
hands which he rested on the window sill and 
pointed at the outer world. 

The wall formed a circle and Mary Ellen 
spent a long time walking around it trying to 
find the entrance. She could find nothing 
that looked like a door or gate so she stood 
under one of the windows and called to the 
soldier. 


44 


OUTSIDE THE CASTLE 

“ How can I get in ? ” 

Strange to say none of the soldiers had no- 
ticed her as she walked around the wall so at 
the sound of her voice below them, they all 
jumped. Those nearest her poked their heads 
out of the windows and stared. 

Then ! Pop, bang, pop ! 

A little hard, white bullet struck Mary El- 
len’s cheek ; another struck her forehead ; 
two more whizzed past her ear. Now she was 
frightened for she saw that there was danger. 
She ran as fast as she could and hid behind 
the nearest tree. 

She felt her cheek and found that it was 
bruised a little. When she was struck b}’’ the 
bullet she thought that the shot had made a 
hole in her cheek. But there was only a sore 
spot where it had struck. 

The soldiers kept on shooting and the bul- 
lets fell thick and fast around the tree where 
she was hiding. She reached out carefully 
and picked one up. It was nothing but a 
hailstone. 

“ Hailstones cannot kill me,” she said, 
“ and I must get into the castle.” 

So she covered her face with her hands and 
stepped bravely out. 

Crack, crack, pop, bang ! went the guns in 
the little windows, and the hailstone bullets 
struck Maiy Ellen sharp, stinging little blows. 

45 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

They could hurt, even if they could not kill, 
and it took all her courage to keep from run- 
ning back to hide behind the tree again. 

When she got close up to the wall and 
directly underneath the windows, the bullets 
could not reach her and she sat down to rest 
and get her breath. She was quite sure there 
was no big gate or entrance, but she hoped 
that there might be some small opening in 
the wall through which she could creep. So 
she walked all around it once more. But 
there was no opening. 

As the wall was of snow it seemed that the 
best thing to do, and in fact, the only thing 
to do, was to scrape a hole in it. So with the 
sharp end of a little stick, Mary Ellen set to 
work. It was a long, slow, cold task for the 
wall was very thick. Mary Ellen’s arms 
ached and her fingers were numb with the 
cold before a hole appeared. Slowly the hole 
grew larger and larger until it was just big 
enough for her to crawl through. 

She had put her head through and was try- 
ing to pull her body after, when a terrific 
BOOM ! startled her. For a moment she 
thought that the castle had been roused and 
that the soldiers were firing a cannon. Mary 
Ellen was terribly frightened and her heart 
beat so wildly that she thought she would 
smother. But it was only the big clock in 
46 


OUTSIDE THE CASTLE 

the tower of the castle striking nine o’clock. 
As the ninth stroke died away, she cautiously 
pulled herself through the hole. 

Just as she had supposed, the wall was built 
for a fortress. Mary Ellen found herself in 
the lower room with not a soul in sight. She 
could find neither a door nor window and she 
wondered if she would have to make another 
hole to get into the yard of the castle. There 
was a flight of stairs going to the room above 
and Mary Ellen thought she would go up and 
see if there was any way of getting into the 
yard from above. 

She went up the stairs very quietly and 
opened the door at the top softly and noise- 
lessly. She opened it the tiniest crack, just 
enough to show her that the upper room was 
the one with the windows. 

She saw all the soldiers, each one standing 
at his window with his gun in his hands. 
They were all peering out, watching anx- 
iously for the enemy. Mary Ellen waited a 
moment and none of them turned towards her. 
Then she decided to take a great risk. 

She stepped into the room without making 
a sound, and stole over to another door. She 
opened this door and stepped out of the room. 
Not a soldier had seen or heard her. 

She now found herself at the top of stairs 
that led down into the yard of the castle. 

47 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


There were soldiers pacing up and down with 
guns and bayonets on their shoulders. The 
moon was shining so brightly on the snow- 
covered ground and showed everything up so 
plainly that Mary Ellen thought she never 
could get across the courtyard without being 
caught. 

Keeping very close to the wall and crouch- 
ing low down, she crept to the bottom of the 
stairs. She waited there, hoping that the 
nearest soldiers might get further away. A 
little group of four stood quite close to her 
and she could hea'r them talking in whispers. 
At last one of them said, 

“ Well, we must get back to business.” 

Mary Ellen got ready to run across the 
courtyard as soon as their backs should be 
turned. Three of them did turn and walk 
away, but the fourth came straight towards her 
and started up the stairs. Of course he saw 
Mar}^ Ellen crouching there. 

“ Ah,” he exclaimed, and stabbed at her 
with his bayonet. 

Mary Ellen threw out her arm to protect 
herself and the bayonet cut her fingers. The 
soldier struck at her again, and again she 
threw out her arm. This time her hand 
struck the soldier on the head. To her sur- 
prise and horror his head rolled off. Feeling 
very sorry for what she had done, Mary Eller. 

48 


OUTSIDE THE CASTLE 


picked the poor soldier up and discovered that 
he was made of snow and that his head was 
only a snow ball. The bayonet was nothing 
but a strong, sharp icicle. She felt sorry that 
she had hurt the soldier, but it was not so bad 
as if he had been made of flesh and blood. 

All the soldiers had their backs turned now 
and Mary Ellen could not waste any more 
time on the soldier she had killed. Right op- 
posite the stairs was what seemed to be a 
small, low door in the castle. She ran for 
this. 

When she reached it she found that it was 
not a door, but was a small opening into a 
dark passage. Mary Ellen hated to go in, but 
it seemed the only way to get into the castle. 
She went to the end of the passage and by 
feeling around she found that there were steps 
leading both up and down. She tried the 
steps that went up first. There was a door at 
the top which was chained and bolted. As 
she did not want to knock, Mary Ellen de- 
cided to try the stairs that went down. 

When she opened the door at the bottom of 
the stairs going down, she found herself in an 
immense cellar. There were four lanterns 
hanging from the ceiling in the four corners, 
and although they did not shed much light, 
the cellar was more pleasant than the dark 
passage. Mary Ellen saw that the cellar was 
49 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


divided into bins. Some of the bins were 
filled with potatoes and apples ; others with 
coal. Some had tables on which were jars of 
fruit and bottles of wine. 

She picked her way between these bins and 
found a ladder. She went up and peaked 
through the key-hole of the door at the top. 
She could not see any one and when she 
listened she could not hear any one, so she 
opened the door and stepped inside. 


50 


CHAPTER XI 


INSIDE THE CASTLE 

J UST as she had expected, she found her- 
self in the kitchen of the castle. 

There was a fine fire in the big stove, 
and, although there were several pans and 
kettles on the top, no one was tending them. 

In all the excitement Mary Ellen had for- 
gotten about being tired and cold and hungry. 
The fire and the pans and kettles reminded 
her. She cut a piece of bread from the loaf, 
stuck it on a big fork, and toasted it at the 
fire, at the same time getting nice and warm. 
One of the kettles was filled with steaming 
hot tomato soup. Mary Ellen dipped some 
into a bowl to eat with her toast and had a 
nice little meal. 

She had just finished eating and was rest- 
ing comfortably by the fire, when she heard 
some one touch the knob of the door. She 
jumped into a cupboard. 

Through a crack in the door she could see a 
young woman dressed as a maid, in a black 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

dress with a Frenchy little white apron and a 
Frencdiy white cap. 

The maid had a tray on which were several 
empty dishes which she proceeded to fill from 
the kettles on the stove. 

“ Oh,” said Mary Ellen as she watched her, 
“ maybe she is going to take some supper to the 
princess. I shall get out and follow her. 
When I find the princess all my troubles will 
be over.” 

Just then the maid began to talk out loud, 
counting over the things she had placed on 
the tray. 

“ Let me see,” she said. “ Soup, toast, cus- 
tard pudding, milk, sugar. Oh, I must fill 
this salt dip. I believe the cook keeps the salt 
in this cupboard.” 

And she started towards the cupboard where 
Mary Ellen was hiding. 

All in a flash Mary Ellen decided that it 
would never do to be caught hiding in the cup- 
board this way. 

“ The only thing to do is to scare her,” she 
said to herself. 

So when the maid opened the cupboard, be- 
fore she could see what was inside, Mary Ellen 
threw a couple of dishes out with a great clat- 
ter and jumped over the maid’s shoulder. 

The maid screamed, threw her apron over 
her face, and ran from the room. 

52 


INSIDE THE CASTLE 


“ Ghosts,” she cried. “ Mice, ghosts. Oh, 
save me.” 

Mary Ellen laughed as she hid behind the 
stove. Then she heard people coming, and as 
she did not want to be seen until she had 
reached the princess, she went out of the 
kitchen as fast as she could. 

The door she opened led into a beautiful 
dining-room. The table was all set, and as 
Mary Ellen went in by the door at one end of 
the room, several people entered by the door 
at the other end. The table was between Mary 
Ellen and the party, so she dropped to the 
floor and crept over until she was under the 
table and hidden by the long cloth. 

Seven people came in and took their places. 
They all talked and laughed except one, a 
young man who sat next to the head. 

The old woman who sat at the foot said to 
him, 

“ Why are you so silent ? Are you worry- 
ing about the princess?” 

“ Yes,” he said. “ I am. Nothing seems 
to do her any good. She grows weaker every 
hour.” 

“ Do not worry,” said the old woman. 
“ She will be better after a while.” 

Mary Ellen thought the meal would never 
end. Once some one kicked her and she 
thought she would surely be discovered. 

53 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ Whose foot is this I am kicking? ” asked 
the man, kicking again. “ It takes up the 
whole dining-room.” 

Everybody laughed and took his remark as 
a joke so Mary Ellen was safe for a while. 
At last the man who was sad and silent 
spoke. 

“ I must ask jmu to excuse me,” he said. 
“ I must go up and see if my wife has every- 
thing she needs.” 

All the others rose with him and followed 
him out of the dining-room. 

As soon as she dared, Mary Ellen crept from 
the shelter of the table-cloth and followed 
them'. The big hall was empty and she went 
up-stairs without meeting a soul. Just as she 
reached the top she saw the sad man enter a 
room. He closed the door after him, but 
the door of the next room was open. Seeing 
that no one was in there, Mary Ellen went 
in. 

It was a lovely little bedroom with a little 
white bed, a little w’hite dressing-table, and 
two little white chairs. At the windows and 
over the bed and dressing-table there were 
blue and white striped curtains. The wall 
paper and the carpet were white with blue 
flowers. 

“ This room just matches my nurse dresses,” 
54 


INSIDE THE CASTLE 


said Mary Ellen, “so I shall sleep here to- 
night unless some one comes and puts me out. 
Maybe if I stay the princess will let me keep 
this for my room.” 





55 


CHAPTER XII 


THE PRINCESS 


HE door between the blue-and-white 



room and the princess’ bedroom was 


open. Mary Ellen could see the sad 


prince standing beside the bed looking down 
at the princess. 

He stood there such a long time, giving 
no sign of leaving, that Mary Ellen had plenty 
of time for looking around. She dared not 
go in while he was there even though he 
looked so kind. For the Foxes had warned 
her against taking such risks until she had 
given the princess the contents of the first 
bottle. 

As she looked around her little room she 
saw herself in the mirror over the dressing- 
table, and was shocked to see how dirty she 
looked. Her face was bruised and dirty from 
the hailstone bullets, her coat was wet from 
the snow and dusty from the cellar. 

There was a little bath-room on the other 
side of the blue and white room, so Mary 
Ellen went in and took a bath. When she 
had brushed her hair and braided it neatly and 


56 


THE PRINCESS 


put on one of lier nice, clean nurse dresses, the 
mirror showed her quite a different looking 
little girl. 

The prince had gone now so Mary Ellen 
went into the other bedroom. 

There she saw a most beautiful princess with 
hair of red gold and a white, white face, lying 
in the bed. 

“ 1 am so cold, so cold,” the princess was 
murmuring. “ I shall never be warm again.” 

Mary Ellen took the first bottle from her 
satchel. On this bottle the doctor had pasted 
a piece of paper which read ; 

“ To Make Her Warm ” 

Mary Ellen took a spoonful of this medi- 
cine and gave it to the princess. Then she 
went back into the blue-and-white room, got 
into the bed and fell asleep. No matter what 
trouble might lie before her she felt hajppy to 
think that she had reached the princess and 
given her the contents of one bottle anyhow. 

The next morning Mary Ellen was the first 
one in the whole castle to wake up. She put 
on her dress, cap and apron and went into the 
other room. 

The princess opened her eyes as Mary El- 
len entered. She was too weak to show sur- 
prise. Mary Ellen took her hand and said : 

57 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ I have come to nurse you and make you 
well.” 

Then she smoothed the pillow and rubbed 
the princess’ liands to make them warm. 
The doctor had told her not to talk much to 
the princess at first so Mary Ellen moved 
around and worked in silence. 

While she was sitting beside the bed rub- 
bing the princess’ hands, the sad prince came 
into the room. The princess saw that he was 
surprised at seeing a stranger there beside her 
so early in the morning, so she roused herself 
enough to say, 

“ This little girl has come to nurse me and 
make me well. She has given me medicine 
already that has made me warm. Now if I 
could only sleep.” 

“ To-night,” said Mary Ellen, “ I shall give 
you medicine that will make you sleep.” 

The sad prince was only too glad to have 
some one to help his wife so he gave 
orders that no one was to interfere with Mary 
Ellen. 

And no one did interfere, — except one per- 
son. 


68 





THE HANDS OF THE SNOW QUEEN WERE LIKE ICE 



I 






I 







i 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE OLD QUEEN 

I N the morning, after breakfast, the old 
queen, the mother of the sad prince, came 
up and asked for the princess. 

She spoke so kindly and sweetly that Mary 
Ellen thought her a most lovable old lady. 

“ My dear daughter-in-law,” said the old 
queen, sitting down beside the bed and tak- 
ing the princess’ hand, “ I have come to visit 
with you a little this morning.” 

Eor the first time in all her illness, the prin- 
cess was feeling warm and comfortable. But 
when the snow queen had been holding her 
hands for about fifteen minutes she began to 
tremble with the cold. For the hands of the 
snow queen were like ice. 

Like the good little nurse that she was, 
Mary Ellen ran for the hot water bag when 
she saw that the princess was chilled. She 
[)ut hot flat-irons in the bed and gave the 
|)rincess the rest of the medicine in the bottle 
that said, “ to make her warm.” 

Now, when the old queen saw how quickly 
the medicine in the little bottle warmed and 
59 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


helped the princess, she asked Mary Ellen 
where she got it. Mary Ellen told her about 
'the medicine in the seven bottles that she had 
brought in her little satchel. 

The old queen went into the little blue-and- 
white room. When Mary Ellen followed her 
she saw the old queen with the satchel in her 
hands, trying to open it. As Mary Ellen en- 
tered the room she dropped the satchel. 

The poor little nurse screamed because she 
thought that all the bottles must be broken 
and that she never could cure the princess 
now. But somehow not one bottle broke. So 
that night Mary Ellen gave the princess med- 
icine. 


To Make Her Sleep 

She slept all night and in the morning was 
rested as well as warm. The sad prince was 
quite happy when he saw his wife so much 
better. 

On the second day when the old queen 
came up the princess kept her hands under 
the quilt so that she could not hold them. 
Mary Ellen had put her satchel away for safe 
keeping, but the old queen went into theblue- 
and- white room and hunted around until she 
found it. When Mary Ellen missed the 
satchel from its hiding place she was greatly 
excited. She ran to tell the prince. 

60 


THE OLD QUEEN 


“ All my medicine is gone,” she cried. 
“ Oh, how can I ever cure the princess if I do 
not find it.” 

The prince was wild at the thought and 
gave orders that the castle should be hunted 
high and low. The servants were all called 
into the hall of the castle and questioned. 
No one knew anything about the satchel. 

Then they started at the attic and searched 
all the way down to the cellar. But the 
satchel was nowhere to be found. At last, 
just as they had given up and the princess 
was growing quite weak, one of the stable 
boys came in with the satchel in his hand. 
He had found it in a corner of the stable-yard. 

When the old queen saw the satchel she 
flew into a rage and boxed the ears of the 
maid who was standing nearest her. 

“ I told you to burn it and break the bot- 
tles,” she cried to the great surprise of every 
one. “ Why did you disobey me? ” 

The poor maid began to cry and sobbed out 
the whole story. 

The queen had given her the satchel to 
burn, but she had laid it down in the yard for 
a moment while she talked to one of the 
soldiers. Then she had forgotten all about it. 

“Why did you do this, mother? ” asked the 
prince, sternly. 

“ Those medicines contain poison,” said the 
61 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

old queen. “ They will make the princess 
better for a few days and then she will get 
worse and die.” 

“ O do not believe her,” cried Mary Ellen. 
“ A good and wise doctor who loves the prin- 
cess sent those medicines to make her well.” 

The prince hardly knew what to think. 
He did not like to doubt his own mother, but 
still he was angry at her because she had been 
so sly. As the princess had great faith in 
Mary Ellen and the medicines, the prince 
finally told her to stay and to do what she 
could to cure his wife. 

That night Mary Ellen gave the princess 
the medicine 

To Make Her Eat 

Then she put the bottles in a locked chest. 
She put the key of this chest on a string 
which she tied around her neck, so the old 
queen could do no more to interfere with her. 


62 


CHAPTER XIV 


HAPPY DAYS 


O N the fourth day, when the princess 
had taken the medicine 

To Make Hek Strong 


she asked Mary Ellen where she had come 
from. Mary Ellen told her the whole story 
from the beginning, all about the little old 
lady, the enchanted chopping- bowl, and Dr. 
and Mrs. Fox. 

“ The Foxes were so good and kind to me,” 
said Mary Ellen. “ They could not have been 
nicer to me if I had been their own little girl. 
When they heard that you were ill they felt 
terribly because they love you very much.” 

“ How strange,” said the princess. “ I 
wonder where they heard of me.” 

Now Mary Ellen said no more because the 
doctor had warned her not to let the princess 
know that he was her father and Mrs. Fox her 
mother. 

“If she knew that we had been changed 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

into animals,” he had said, “she would feel so 
badly that all the medicine in the world 
would not cure her.” 

The princess thought about it a long while 
and finally said, 

“ Perhaps some of the poor I have helped 
told them about me and they wanted to help 
me on that account.” 

Mary Ellen kept silent. 

It was just wonderful to see how quickly 
the princess improved under Mary Ellen’s 
care. Each bottle of medicine did just what 
it was supposed to do. On the fifth day the 
princess took the medicine 

To Make Her Sit Up 

on the sixth day the medicine 

To Make Her Walk 

and on the seventh day she drank the con- 
tents of the last bottle. 

To Make Her All Well Again 

But even though she was well and strong 
again, the princess did not care to feast and 
dance as the others in the castle did. She 
and Mary Ellen used to sit at the window of 
her chamber every morning and watch the 
64 


HAPPY DAYS 


prince drilling the soldiers in the courtyard 
below. When the drilling hour was up the 
prince would have the soldiers salute the 
princess. Then he would come in and have 
luncheon alone with the princess and Mary 
Ellen. 

The king, queen and all the lords and 
ladies ate together in the big dining-room 
down-stairs. But no matter how grand a feast 
they had, the happiest little party was up- 
stairs. The maid would bring good things 
up on the tray, the princess would make tea 
in a little kettle over the fireplace and Mary 
Ellen would toast bread. 

The evenings were the most pleasant of 
all. The prince with his arm around his 
dear Avife and her head on his shoulder 
would sit before the fire talking and chat- 
ting. Mary Ellen, with the baby in her 
arms, would sing softly and sweetly. From 
below would come the sound of music, danc- 
ing and laughter. 

“ How much happier we are than they,” the 
prince would say. “ This is the only home- 
like room in the castle.” 

But these good times were not to last for- 
ever. One day the baby was cross and rest- 
less. 

“ I believe he needs some fresh air,” said 
the princess. “ He is partly a snow baby, 
65 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


you know. I think this room is kept too 
hot for him and the cold air would do him 
good.” 

So Mary Ellen bundled up warmly and 
took the baby out into the courtyard. When 
the queen saw Mary Ellen rolling the baby in 
his go-cart around the castle she went out to 
speak to her. 

“ The king and the prince will soon be 
coming home from the hunt,” said the old 
queen. “ Let us go to meet them. My son 
will be so pleased to think that you brought 
the baby to meet him.” 

Mary Ellen followed the queen into the 
fort and the soldiers opened a door for them 
to pass through. As soon as they passed 
through, the door swung back and left a blank 
wall behind them without a crack or line to 
show where the door was. 

The queen and Mary Ellen had only walked 
a little way when the queen said : 

“ Oh, I forgot something. Wait here.” 

She ran back and the soldiers opened the 
door to let her in. 

The road before the castle was smooth and 
slippery. While waiting for the queen Mary 
Ellen had a good time rolling the go-cart along 
and sliding after it. The baby crowed and 
laughed and had a fine time too. 

After a while the big clock in the tower 
66 


HAPPY DAYS 


struck three. Then Mary Ellen began to 
wonder what could be keeping the queen. 
When the clock struck four she decided to go 
in and see what had happened. 


67 


CHAPTER XV 


THE FRIENDLY GOAT 

S HE could not find a door or opening in 
the wall of the fort, so she called to the 
soldiers. 

“ Let me in, please,” she cried, standing 
under one of the little high windows. 

To her great surprise the little snow soldier 
popped his head up, stuck his gun out of 
the window, and shot a hailstone bullet at 
her. 

Mary Ellen was hurt and angry. But she 
had been through so much trouble and 
danger that she was not easily frightened or 
discouraged. She ran around to the other 
side of the castle and stood under one of the 
little windows there. Again a little soldier 
popped his head up, stuck his gun out, and 
shot at her. 

One of the bullets struck her on the cheek, 
very close to the eye. Mary Ellen almost 
cried it hurt so badly, but she suddenly re- 
membered the baby that was in her charge 
out there in the cold with night coming on 
G8 


THE FRIENDLY GOAT 

and had no time for crying. Courage and 
thought were the only things that could help 
her. • 

“ I believe the old queen has shut us out of 
the castle,” she said to herself, “ so there is no 
use in trying to get the soldiers to let us in.” 

The baby started to cry when his supper 
time came and no one gave him any supper. 
Mary Ellen rolled the go-cart into the forest a 
little ways and hid it among some thick trees 
and bushes. Then she got a sharp stick and 
tried to scrape a hole in the castle wall as she 
had done once before. But the snow people 
were not to be caught in that way again and 
they had frozen the lower part of the wall into 
solid ice. Mary Ellen worked and scraped 
and chipped at it for an hour without making 
even a tiny hole. At last she gave up and 
went back to the baby. 

The little prince was still crying for his 
supper, and there beside the go-cart was an old 
goat watching him. 

Mary Ellen had talked a good deal with 
wild animals, but never with a goat. This 
goat, however, had roamed about the forest so 
much and talked to so many animals that 
Mary Ellen had no trouble in understanding 
her. 

“ How this baby does cry,” said the goat. 
“ What is the matter with the poor child ? ” 

69 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


She seemed to be such a nice old goat and 
so friendly that in a few moments Mary Ellen 
was telling her all her troubles. 

“ This is a little prince,” she said. “ His 
father and mother live in that castle. His 
grandmother, the old queen, does not like the 
baby because his mother is a real woman and 
not made of snow. I think the old queen 
must have given orders that the baby and I 
are not to be let in the castle, because the 
soldiers shoot at me whenever they catch 
sight of me. The poor baby is so hungry and 
I am so cold I do not know what we ever shall 
do.” 

“ Do not worry,” said the old goat. “ I 
will stay with you and help take care of the 
baby. There is an old hut near here and you 
had better spend the night there. I shall 
watch and see that no harm comes to you.” 

Mary Ellen pulled the go-cart out from 
beneath the bushes and followed the goat to 
the little hut. 

The hut was very small and old, but when 
Mary Ellen opened the door, the moonlight 
showed that the floor was covered with clean 
thick hay that looked very soft and warm. 

“ This is better than having to sleep out in 
the forest, anyhow,” said Mary Ellen, stepping 
inside. 

At the same moment her foot struck some- 
70 


THE FRIENDLY GOAT 

thing that moved. A voice cried out, “ What 
is that ? ” 

Mary Ellen was startled. Her heart stopped 
beating and for a moment she could not 
answer. She turned to the door, but the go- 
cart was blocking the way and the old goat 
was peering in over the top of it. So Mary 
Ellen turned to face the unknown enemy. 

The enemy was sitting up now with the 
moonlight shining full upon his face and head. 
And that head was red ! 

Mary Ellen looked again and again. At 
last she was quite sure. 

It was the Ked-haired Boy. 


71 


CHAPTER XVI 


ADVENTURES OF THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

H e had been fast asleep in the hay and 
for a little while he thought he must 
still be dreaming. 

“ Is it really and truly you ? ” he said. 

“ Yes,” said Mary Ellen. 

“ The little girl from down home who rode 
away in a chopping-bowl ? ” 

“ Yes,” said Mary Ellen. 

“ Jiminy Christmas, jumping Jerusalem ! ” 
said the Red-haired Boy. “ Who would ever 
have expected to meet you here ? ” 

When they had got over their surprise, 
Mary Ellen pulled the go-cart into the hut 
and sat down to tell the Red-haired Boy her 
story. The goat lay with her head on Mary 
Ellen’s lap and listened of her visit to the Foxes 
and of her nursing the princess. 

The Red-haired Boy did not say a word until 
she had finished. 

Then he said, 

“ Well, things do turn out queerly. Wait 
until you hear my story and see if you are not 
as surprised as I am at hearing yours.” 

72 



THE RED-HAIRED ROY DID NOT SAY A WORD UNTIL SHE HAD 

FINISHED 





ADVENTURES OF THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

So he began. 

“ In the first place my sister got manned 
and went away. Early last winter my father 
and mother started out to visit her and never 
came back. I waited and waited, but they 
neither wrote to me nor came back. Then that 
night when I saw you speeding past in the 
chopping-bowl I ran after you. Of course 
you were out of sight in a few moments, but 
I followed in the track of the bowl. I could 
not understand what made the bowl go and I 
wanted to find out, so I followed all that 
night. Towards morning I came to an old 
barn and I was so tired I could go no farther. 
I slept there until noon the next day. I 
stopped at a big house in the afternoon and 
the cook gave me something to eat. Then I 
kept on and walked until evening, still fol- 
lowing in the track of the chopping-bowl. 

“ There was no reason why I should go 
home since my father and mother were gone 
and somehow I felt as if I might find them 
by following the track of the chopping-bowl.” 

Oh, did you find them ? ” asked Mary 
Ellen. 

“ No,” said the Red-haired Boy sadly. “ But 
I am beginning to hope I shall very soon 
now. Just wait until you hear everything. 
I followed the track for three days and then 
the snow began to melt and I lost it.” 

73 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ Where did you sleep and eat all this 
time ? ” asked Mary Ellen. 

“ Any place and every place,” answered the 
Red-haired Boy. “ I walked all the second 
night without coming to a house or shelter of 
any kind. When morning came I was so 
tired that I just laid down in the open field 
and fell asleep. I pulled grass and weeds and 
as much hay as I could get together and made 
quite a comfortable bed. It was not so bad 
while the sun was shining, but as soon as even- 
ing came on the cold woke me and I started 
on again. I had had nothing to eat all day 
and was pretty hungry. I walked all night 
and about four in the morning, just as the 
darkness was beginning to turn gray, I came 
to a house. There was a fine big barn in the 
back and I thought I would go in there and 
wait until the folks woke and see if they 
would give me something to eat. 

“ The barn door was locked and I had a 
hard time getting in. There was a window 
that was open, but it was too high for me to 
reach. I found three boxes and an old chair 
in the barn-yard and dragged them over and 
piled them one on top of another beneath the 
window. Then I climbed up and got inside. 
I had to be pretty careful inside because the 
window was right over three stalls and if I 
fell the horses would trample and kick me. 

74 


ADVENTURES OF THE RED-HAIRED BOY 


Luckily for me the moon was shining straight 
in through the window and 1 could see every- 
thing pretty plainly. I crept along the beams 
very carefully until I got into the hay-loft. 
Oh, but the hay did feel soft and warm and 
good. I stretched out and had the finest sleep 
of my life. The big dinner bell woke me at 
noon. I did not want to go in just then be- 
fore the meal, but as I was going down the 
ladder to look around, one of the farm hands 
saw me.” 

“ ‘ Thief,’ he cried. ‘ I have you, my fine 
young rascal.’ 

“ He got me by the collar and hustled me 
into the house. I was good and mad, but 
when I tried to speak he pulled my collar so 
tight it almost choked me. 

“The farmer’s wife screamed when she saw 
him bringing me in and heard him crying, 
‘ I’ve caught a thief ! ’ There was great ex- 
citement and I could not say a word. 

“ When the man let go of my collar and 
the noise stopped enough for me to be heard 
I told them that I was not a thief and ex- 
plained how I happened to be in the hay- 
loft. None of the men believed a word that 
I said, but the farmer’s Avife did. 

“ ‘ We will give the boy something to eat, 
anyhow,’ she said, ‘ before we turn him 
away.’ 


75 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ So she made me sit down at the end of the 
table and eat with the rest. They had corned 
beef, cabbage and potatoes and they certainly 
did taste good to me. I was ashamed to eat 
so much, but I was just about starved. It 
was a good thing I did put away such a good 
meal because I did not get another for quite 
a long time. 

“ I started out as soon as I had thanked 
•the farmer’s wife. She said I had an honest 
face, but I know' that the men thought I was 
crooked. 

“ ‘ I never yet saw a red-haired boj^ with a 
bad heart,’ said the farmer’s wife as I started 
off. 

“ Some da^^ I hope I can go back and 
prove to them that this red-haired boy any- 
how has not got such a bad heart as some of 
them thought. 

“About nine in the evening I came to a 
little cottage by the side of the road. I 
knocked on the door and a w'oman called out 
to know who was there. 

“ ‘ A red-haired boy,’ I said. So she let 
me in. 

“ There were lots of children around, about 
six I think. The oldest was about fourteen 
years old and the youngest was too small to 
walk. They all hung around me while I told 
them my story. Then the woman said, 

76 


ADVENTURES OF THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

“ ‘ We are very poor and we cannot give you 
much. But you are welcome to what we 
have.’ 

“ She gave me some weak tea and hard 
bread without butter. The long walk and 
cold air had given me such an appetite that 
even the hard bread tasted good. They asked 
me to stay all night. The oldest boy said I 
could have his share of one bed and he would 
sleep on the floor. I would not let him do 
that so I slept on the floor myself. In the 
morning I had a breakfast of more hard 
bread and weak tea before I left them. I 
hope some day I will have a lot of money and 
then I will go back and pay them a hundred 
times for their kindness.” 

Mary Ellen thought that would be very 
nice. 


77 


CHAPTER XVII 

THE QUEER OLD WOMAN 

“ 'W ^ TELL,” said the Red-haired Boy, 

\/\/ “ about three o’clock in the after- 
▼ ▼ noon I came to a high fence. I 

thought there must be a house somewhere near 
so I climbed over the fence and started across 
the field. 

“ I had got almost across when a wild horse 
spied me and started to chase me. I ran as 
fast as I could, but just barely got over the 
fence at the other end of the field in time to 
escape his hoofs. 

“ I was so out of breath that I had to rest 
for a minute before I could get up. It is a 
good thing I did wait to get my breath and 
rest because I had hardly got half way across 
the field when a big black bull came tearing 
after me. I leaped over the fence about a 
minute before he reached it. Poor fellow ! I 
suppose he did not like the colour of my hair. 

“ In the third field there was a red cow. 
When I saw her walking towards me I walked 
a little faster to keep ahead of her. The faster 
I went the faster she followed until the first 
78 


THE QUEER OLD WOMAN 

thing I knew I had to run as fast as I could to 
keep ahead of her. 

“ I was about sick of being chased when I 
jumped over the fourth fence. I sat down to 
get a good rest before I went any further. I 
did not like to go any further on this farm 
where the animals looked so vicious, but 
still 1 could not go back the way I had come. 
So I kept on. 

“ This last field sloped upward and when I 
got to the top I could see a nice little farm- 
house lower down on the other side of the 
slope. 

“ I started for the house and had begun to 
think I was safe from the animals when a dog 
ran out of the barn and came snapping and 
barking at my heels. He got worse every 
minute and I had to kick out pretty lively to 
keep him from taking little bites out of my 
leg. He had the tail of my coat in his mouth 
when I got inside, the kitchen door and 
slammed it in his face. See where he tore it.” 

Mary Ellen examined the place on the 
Red-haired Boy’s coat where the dog had torn 
it. 

The Red-haired Boy went on : 

“ The little old woman who was in the 
kitchen turned around just as if she had been 
expecting me. 

“ ‘ So you got past them all,’ she said. 

79 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ ‘ Your animals are all very vicious/ I 
answered. ‘ They have all chased me and I 
know they would have killed me if they had 
caught me.’ 

“ ‘ Of course they would/ she answered. 
‘It is a good thing you could run fast 
enough to get away. Now you can stay here 
for a while.’ 

“ ‘ You seem to have been expecting 
me ’ I said. 

“ ‘ I have been expecting you,’ she an- 
swered. 

“ ‘ But I do not intend to stay here,’ I 
went on. ‘I have important business to at- 
tend to. So if you will tell me how to get out 
without crossing the field in which those 
animals are, I shall go.’ 

“ ‘ Oh, no, my fine lad,’ said the old 
woman. ‘ Not so fast. I need you here for 
a while. There are vicious cows, angry bulls, 
and wild horses in the fields on all four sides 
of this farm. So you will have to stay until 
I am willing to let you go. I need a good 
strong boy like you to help here with the 
farm work. So you will have to stay here 
until the work is done and I do not need you 
any more.’ 

“ I was terribly angry when the old woman 
spoke like that. I made up my mind I would 
not do a thing to help her about the farm and 
80 


THE QUEER OLD WOMAN 

thought that she would soon get tired of hav- 
ing me around doing nothing. 

“ But when supper time came she made 
some fine hot biscuits and the best soup ! I 
was so hungry I could not help eating and 
after I had eaten, of course, I wanted to do 
something to pay for my meal. So I pumped 
water for her, chopped wood, fixed the fire 
and locked up the barn. 

“ ‘ You may sleep here,’ she said, pointing 
to a lounge in the kitchen. ‘ It is warm and 
comfortable and much better for you than 
wandering around in lohely fields on a cold 
night.’ 

“ That was true and I did sleep well. She 
woke me up about five in the morning and 
gave me a fine hot breakfast. I was ashamed 
to sulk, so I asked her what she wanted me to 
do. She had plenty for me to do and I kept 
pretty busy. She always treated me well and 
in a few days I made up my mind to do all I 
could to earn my board until I could get 
away. I used to feed the cattle, milk the 
cows, churn the butter, pump water and chop 
w’ood. 

“ The first night I was there I almost hated 
the old woman and thought she was too mean 
to live. But as the days went by and she 
never spoke a cross word to me, gave me three 
good meals a day, and a nice warm place to 
81 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

sleep, I began to like her. And she began to 
like me. We got quite fond of one another 
and enjoyed talking together in the evening. 
She was a smart old woman and told me lots 
of things. The funny part of it was that she 
knew all about my past life and my friends. 

“ After I had been there three weeks she said, 

“ ‘ Now, my boy, I am going to tell you 
something that will surprise you. I brought 
you here to see what sort of a boy you were 
and I have learned that you are all right. 
The work is about finished up now and as 
soon as you can get that pile of wood in the 
yard chopped up I shall let you go to find 
your parents and sister. 

“ ‘ What is more, when the time comes I 
shall tell you just where to go to find them.’ 

“ I got awfully excited when she said that 
and I wanted her to tell me right away. But 
she would not tell me until the time came. 

“ The next morning I got up an hour 
earlier than usual and started to chop the 
wood. It was a big job and I made so little 
progress that it seemed as if I never would 
finish it. I was afraid it would take me a 
month to get it chopped. 

“ When the old woman came down and saw 
what I was about she felt rather badly to think 
I was so anxious to leave her. She did not 
say much, however, and I kept at the wood 
82 


THE QUEER OLD WOMAN 


chopping so steadily that at the end of about 
ten days the pile was finished. On the tenth 
day, when we had finished sapper and every- 
thing was put away, the old lady sat down on 
one side of the table and told me to sit on the 
other. Then she took a piece of paper and 
drew a map. 

“ ‘ Follow this road,’ she said, ‘ and you will 
come to the castle where your sister lives. 
She is not happy there and you must try to 
rescue her and take her home to your par- 
ents. Her husband is a good man and if he 
wants to go with you take him too.’ 

“ ‘ But, ’ I said, ‘ my parents left home 
before I did. It would break my sister’s 
heart if I took her home and our father and 
mother were not there.’ 

“ ‘ Wait, boy,’ she said. ‘ I have not 
told you one half of what I know.’ She 
pointed to another spot on the map and said, 
‘ This is where your father and mother now 
live. But before you go to them you must 
free your sister and force the old queen, her 
mother-in-law, to break the charm that is 
keeping your parents away from you.’ 

“ All this sounded very easy, but I knew it 
would not be so easily done. I asked her how 
I could free my sister and how I could force 
the old queen to break the charm, but the old 
lady would not tell me. I decided to do the 
83 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

best I could, and so I started off the next 
morning. 

“ The little old lady went across the fields 
with me to protect me from the animals. 
She gave me a bone to throw to the dog, a 
corn-stalk for the cow, a big lump of salt 
for the bull and a lump of sugar for the 
horse. 

“ ‘ Now, if you ever want to come back to 
see me, ’ said the old lady, ‘ these animals 
will let you pass.’ 

At the farthest fence she bade me ‘ Good- 
bye and good luck ’ and I was out in the 
world again.” 

“ I came straight to the castle, met you and 
that is all. You see I have not rescued my 
sister, I have not forced the old queen to free 
my parents, and the only thing left for me 
now is to find them. Do you think you could 
take me to them ? ” 

“ Yes,” said Mary Ellen, with tears in her 
eyes. “ I will take you to your father and 
mother. I almost wish I had done something 
to the old queen. To think she would be- 
witch them into foxes.” 

“ I have been trying for two nights to get 
into the castle,” said the Red-haired Boy. 
“ I tried to scrape a hole in the wall, but they 
have frozen it so hard that it was impossible. 
I have about given up.” 

84 


THE QUEER OLD WOMAN 


Then the goat spoke. 

“ My horns are sharp/' she said. “ Maybe 
I could make a hole. If I cannot do it we 
may as well give up.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


MARY ELLEN AND THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

O the goat went out and Mary Ellen set- 



tled down with the baby in her arms to 


i J sleep in the soft hay. All night the 

Red-haired Boy stood guard at the door and 
the goat scraped at the castle wall. In the 
morning she came back to the hut. 

“ It is no use,” she said. “ The wall is 
harder than stone.” 

“ What shall we do ? ” said Mary Ellen in 
despair. “We cannot stay out here forever 
with this baby.” 

“ We might take the baby to the old 
woman,” said the Red-haired Boy, “ and we 
could go and find my father and mother.” 

“ No, no,” said Mary Ellen. “ Wherever I 
go I shall take the baby with me until I can 
find the princess and give him back again.” 

“ Well,” said the Red-haired Boy, “ the 
sooner we start the quicker we shall get there. 
So let us be off.” 

They put the baby in the go-cart, and with 
the Red-haired Boy pushing and Mary Ellen 


86 


MARY ELLEN AND THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

and the goat walking alongside, they started 
off. 

It was hard work pushing the go-cart up 
hills and holding it back going down. But 
the Red-haired Boy was strong and kept at it 
steadily until they reached the top of the high 
hill where Dr. Fox had left Mary Ellen. 
There they sat down to rest and Mary Ellen 
said, 

“ Now I cannot remember which of these 
roads is the one we came by.” 

For there were two roads that led from the 
top of the hill. 

“ While you are sitting here resting,” said 
the goat, “ I shall go a little way on the road 
and see where it leads me.” 

After about an hour she came back. 

“ I went a long way,” she said, “ without 
seeing anything or anybody. At last I came 
to a field where a horse was pastured. He 
told me that the road did finally lead to a 
great forest, but that the forest was a long 
journey from here.” 

“ It must be the road, then,” said Mary 
Ellen, “ because Dr. Fox could travel about 
three times as fast as we can and it took him 
a night and a day to bring me here.” 

The Red-haired Boy said he had rested 
enough, so they set out on the right road. 
They walked all that day, and when night 
87 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


came there was no place of shelter near by and 
they had to sit under an old tree until morn- 
ing. The wind was cold, but the ground was 
dry and Mary Ellen had grown so strong and 
healthy while she lived in the castle of ice 
that she did not mind sleeping out-of-doors 
very much. Of course the snow baby did not 
mind it at all. 

About noon on the third day they came to 
the forest. Here the Red-haired Boy and 
Mary Ellen did not know which way to go to 
find the little house where the doctor and his 
wife lived. But even as they were studying 
the map and trying to find the road, a hare 
leaped across their path, and jumped into a 
bush. 

“ Oh,” cried Mary Ellen. I do believe 
that is Johnny Hare.” 

The poor little hare, frightened as he was 
by the sight of human beings, knew Maiy 
Ellen’s voice and jumped out of the bush. 

“ Oh, Johnny, is that really you ? ” cried 
Mary Ellen. “ How you have changed.” 

“ Will that Red-haired Boy hurt me ? ” 
asked Johnny, keeping his eye out for danger. 

“ No, no,” said Mary Ellen. “ Do not be 
afraid of him. I am so glad to see you. We 
are going to see the doctor and his wife in the 
little house of snow. We must be quite near 
there now that we have met you.” 

88 





ABOUT NOON ON THE THIRD DAY THEY CAME TO THE FOREST 







MARY ELLEN AND THE RED-HAIRED BOY 

“ No,” said Johnny. “ You are a long way 
from it. I moved since I saw you last. That 
is how you happened to see me in this part of 
the forest.” 

Mary Ellen was disappointed. 

“ Are we really such a long way from 
home ? ” she asked. “ Can you tell us how to 
find it ? ” 

“ I can take you as far as the river,” said 
the hare. “ You ought to be able to find it 
then.” 

It was night before they reached the river. 
The hare was used to sleeping out of doors 
and he helped them make a nice comfortable 
nest of leaves and twigs. Then he left them. 

In the morning they followed the river. 
Soon Mary Ellen was delighted to meet an- 
other of her friends. It was Tommy Beaver, 
who had got married and started housekeeping 
for himself. He walked a ways with them, 
talking merrily. 

“It is a long time since I saw the doctor,” 
he said. “ My wife takes such good care of 
me now that I have never had to call the 
doctor in. I only get down to that part of the 
forest once in a great w^hile. I have been too 
busy even to get down to see my father and 
mother more than twice this winter. When 
I got married I settled up here and had to 
help the beavers build our home. There is 


” • THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

always plenty of work for everybody to do, so 
I do not get much time for play.” 

“ The last time I saw my mother she said 
that every one missed you. All the hares and 
rabbits and squirrels were very lonesome after 
you went away. Well, my wife will be wait- 
ing for me so I must leave you here.” 

The jolly little fellow jumped into the water 
and swam away. 

The ice was all gone out of the river now, 
for although the spring wind was often keen 
and cold the winter was almost over. 


90 


CHAPTER XIX 


ALL GONE 


ND now Mary Ellen’s heart began to 



beat fast and her breath came hard. 


X. JL For they were so near the little house 
of snow that she was quite excited. 

She walked faster and faster until they came 
to the bend in the river near which the house 
stood. Then she could wait no longer, so she 
started to run as' fast as she could. The Red- 
haired Boy followed her with the baby car- 
riage, spinning along at a great rate of speed, 
and the old goat trotted beside them. 

The snow had melted away now and Mary 
Ellen found a little path that had been covered 
up before. They ran up this path, noticing 
how green the grass was and that a few early 
spring flowers, snowdrops and buttercups were 
springing up. 

Then Slary Ellen looked up. 

The Little House of Snow Was Gone ! 

She rubbed her eyes and looked again. But 


91 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


no little house of snow appeared. She pinched 
herself to see if she was awake. It was no 
use. The little house of snow was gone. 

Mary Ellen looked around to make sure 
this was the right place. There were the same 
big trees that had been bare and leafless when 
she went away. They were now just begin- 
ning to put forth their soft little green leaves. 
But Mary Ellen was sure they were the same 
trees. There were the two rose bushes that had 
stood beside the door. But there was no door. 
There was the hazel bush that had stood out- 
side the window ; and the maple tree that had 
towered above the chimney. But the window 
and the chimney were gone. 

When at last Mary Ellen was sure they 
were at the right place and that the little 
house of snow was really and truly gone, she 
sank down in a despairing little heap at the 
foot of the maple tree and sobbed as if her 
heart would break. 

“ It is no use,” she said. “ It is no use to 
try to find them now. The old queen has 
done something to Dr. Fox and his good 
wife.” 

The Red-haired Boy looked around in de- 
spair. He shut his teeth tight and closed his 
eyes to keep the tears back. It was pretty 
liard after all these dreary months of search- 
ing to find his parents gone without leav- 
92 


ALL GONE 


ing any address or message behind them. 
For a few minutes it seemed to him as if 
nothing in the world would ever come right 
again. 

He walked around the yard and down the 
path, fighting the awful feeling of homesick- 
ness that came over him. Then he braced up 
and went back to the maple tree where Mary 
Ellen was still lying. 

“ There, there,” he said, patting her 
shoulder just as his father used to do. “ Don’t 
cry, Mary Ellen. Things will surely turn out 
all right in the end.” 

Well, Mary Ellen felt terribly sad about the 
doctor and his wife, but she knew that lying 
there and crying would do no good. When 
she saw how bravely the Ked-haired Boy took 
his disappointment she dried her eyes and 
stood up saying, 

“ We have taken too much from the old 
queen. Now I am going straight back to the 
castle and I will get in somehow.” 

“ I am with you,” said the Red-haired Boy. 
“ We will never give up until my father and 
mother are free once more.” 

With brave hearts they started back the way 
they had come. On the journey in search of 
the little house of snow the Red-haired Boy 
and Mary Ellen had been full of hope and had 
talked most merrily of the bad times that 
93 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


were past and the good times that were com- 
ing, But now they went swiftly on their way 
and could not talk because they were wonder- 
ing sadly what had become of the doctor and 
his wife. 

The grass and trees were so green, the little 
flowers were smiling up at them so sweetly 
and all the birds and animals in the forest 
were happy because spring had come. But 
Mary Ellen and the Red-haired Boy were so 
anxious to get back to the castle that they did 
not stop to talk with any one. 

Tommy Beaver walked a wa^^s with them 
and heard about the disappearance of the lit- 
tle house of snow. Johnny Hare came jump- 
ing out as they passed his way and offered to 
hunt through the whole forest for the doctor 
and Mrs. Fox. 

Mary Ellen had thought they were walking 
as fast as they could on the journey from the 
castle. But now they were so anxious to get 
back that they made the journey in one half 
day less. 

On the evening of the third day they stood 
at the foot of the hill on the other side of 
which was the castle. 

“ I am so tired,” said Mary Ellen. “ I can- 
not try to get in to-night.” 

“ Rest here, to-night, then,” said the Red- 
94 


ALL GONE 


haired Boy, “ and in the morning you will feel 
stronger and better.” 

As the first bright rays of the morning sun 
fell across Mary Ellen’s face, she awoke. 

“ Come,” she cried to the Red-haired Boy. 
“ It is daybreak and we must make the old 
queen free your father and mother.” 

The Red-haired Boy jumped up and started 
up the hill, pushing the go-cart before him. 
The goat leaped ahead of them and reached 
the top first. Mary Ellen panted after her. 

And now, dear children who read this book, 
I can hardly bear to go on. For I know how 
sorry you will feel when I tell you that poor 
Mary Ellen looked down into the valley and 
saw that the castle was gone. 

When she saw the bare and empty valley 
spread beneath her and knew that the castle 
and the old witch queen were gone, her last 
hope of rescuing the doctor and his wife and 
the princess left her. 

Gone was the little house of snow, gone was 
the castle, the doctor, Mrs. Fox and the prin- 
cess. Everything in the world that Mary 
Ellen and the Red-haired Boy loved, was 
gone. 

There was Mary Ellen with the baby in her 
care and no one to depend on but the Red- 
haired Boy. She turned to him now. 

95 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


He, too, was looking down into the lonely 
valley where the great castle of ice had once 
stood. He turned away and they all started 
down the hill again. 


96 


CHAPTER XX 


LITTLE OLD LADY 

W ITHOUT saying a word and without 
thinking or planning where they 
were going, they walked on and on. 
After they had walked quite a long time 
they came to a fenced field. A horse put his 
head over the fence and neighed at them. 
The Red-haired Boy looked up. 

“ Mary Ellen,” he cried. “ Oh, Mary Ellen ! 
that is White Star, the little old lady’s horse.” 

At the words “ little old lady ” Mary Ellen’s 
mind flew back to the very beginning of her 
adventures. 

“ Not my little old lady,” she said. 

“ No, no,” cried the Red-haired Boy. 
“ Mine. The one with whom I stayed this 
winter. Let us cross the fields and go to her 
house.” 

They took the baby out of the carriage and 
put him under the fence. Mary Ellen crawled 
under, the Red-haired Boy climbed over, and 
the goat jumped over. 

The horse walked beside them until they 
97 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


came to the second field. The bull was not 
friendly, but neither was he savage. So they 
crossed the second field safely and came to the 
third. In the third field the cow walked be- 
side them until they reached the yard. The 
dog in the yard was so glad to see the Red- 
haired Boy again that he jumped all over 
him. 

The kitchen door was open and the little 
old lady was standing at the table making a 
cake. She held out her hands as she saw 
them coming and the Red-haired Boy took 
one and Mary Ellen the other. 

For it was Mary Ellen’s Little Old Lady 
too. Her Little Old Lady and the Red-haired 
Boy’s Little Old Lady were one and the 
same. 

She listened while the children told her the 
long, sad story of their wanderings. The tears 
came to her eyes when she heard of their 
many disappointments. 

“ And when we saw that the castle was 
gone, we gave up,” said Mary Ellen with a 
sob. 

“ Poor children,” said the Little Old Lady. 
“ You poor, poor children. You need worry 
no more. The old queen is dead and the 
castle and all the soldiers have melted away. 
Your father and mother are free now and I 
shall send you back to them to-night.” 

98 • •• 


LITTLE OLD LADY 


It seemed almost too good to be true. The 
Red-haired Boy tossed his cap to the ceiling 
and Mary Ellen danced with joy. The baby 
clapped his little fat hands and the goat 
frisked around. 

For the first time the little old lady noticed 
the goat. 

“Where did you find my goat?” she 
asked. 

The goat looked ashamed. 

“ They did not find me,” she said. “ I 
found them. I ran away because I was tired 
of being shut up in fields, but now I have 
seen a good deal and I am ready to come 
back.” 

“ We never dreamed she was your goat,” 
said the Red-haired Boy. 

“ It is all right as long as she came back,” 
said the little old lady. “It was probably a 
good thing for you to have her with you for 
she is old and wise.” 

All this time the little old lady had been 
beating and stirring the cake. She now 
poured the batter into a little pan. 

“ The minute I put this cake in the oven,” 
she said, “ you must all count seven seven 
times. Do not start until I have closed the 


door.” 

“ Must 
iously. 


I count, too? ” asked the goat anx- 


Lora 


99 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ Yes,” said the little old lad’y. “ The more 
that count the better it will be.” 

“ But I do not know how,” said the goat. 

“ Well just nod your head to my count,” 
said the Ked-h aired Boy. “ That will prob- 
ably answer.” 

The little old lady put the cake in the oven, 
closed the door, and they all started to count, 
— the Red-haired Boy counting out loud and 
the goat nodding her head. 

They counted seven seven times. 

Then the little old lady took the cake out 
of the oven. 

In that short time it raised up and browned 
beautifully. It was a lovely looking cake, so 
soft and brown and even. The little old lady 
set it down to cool. 

In a few moments she cut it and gave Mary 
Ellen and the Red-haired Boy each a piece of 
it. 

“ You must go and stand outside the door 
while you eat it,” she said. “ Close your eyes 
before you take your first bite and do not 
open them until you have eaten the last 
crumb.” 

“But how about the baby?” asked Mary 
Ellen. “ Will he be left out of the charm just 
because he cannot eat cake? ” 

“ No,” said the little old lady, putting the 
baby in his buggy. “ You must each keep 
100 


LITTLE OLD LADY 


one hand on the baby’s buggy while you are 
eating the cake. Now follow these directions 
closely and see what will happen.” 


101 


CHAPTER XXI 


SWEET HOME 

T hey took their cake and went out- 
side, each with a hand on the baby- 
carriage. 

Mary Ellen was a tiny bit frightened, but 
she closed her eyes and ate the cake in silence. 
When the last crumb was gone she said, with 
her eyes still closed, 

“ Have you finished your cake?” 

“ Just a minute,” said the Red-haired Boy. 
“ One, two, three. Ready.” 

They opened their eyes. 

They were still standing in a yard with a 
door right behind them. For a moment Mary 
Ellen thought it was the door of the little old 
lady’s house and felt disappointed because 
nothing had happened. 

But in another moment she saw that the 
house was very much larger than the cottage 
of the little old lady. 

“ I know where we are,” cried the Red- 
haired Boy. 

He pounded on the door and Mary Ellen 
102 







THEY TOOK THEIR CAKE AND WENT OUTSIDE, EACH WITH A HAND 

ON THE BABY CARRIAGE 


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SWEET HOME 


took the baby in her arms and stood behind 
him. 

The door was opened by — 

The Peincess 

She gave a scream when she saw Mary Ellen 
and held out her arms for the baby. 

Mary Ellen was dazed by all the excite- 
ment. She saw a strange woman hugging the 
Red-haired B03" and in half a second she, her- 
self, was lifted off her feet by the strong arms 
of a big man. She looked up into his face. 
He was a middle-aged man with a red beard. 
For a moment Mary Ellen thought she had 
never seen him before. 

“ Mary Ellen,” he was saying. “ Don’t you 
know the old doctor? ” 

Of course Mary Ellen knew that gruff kind 
voice. Of course she knew those merry 
twinkling eyes. It was Dr. Fox, — the real 
Dr. Fox, no longer in the shape of an animal, 
but his own true manly self again. 

Mary Ellen turned to the woman who was 
hugging the Red-haired Boy. Yes, it was 
Mrs. Fox. Mary Ellen put her arms around 
her neck in the same old way. 

“ Dear little girl,” said Mrs. Fox. “ You 
must never leave us again. I am so glad to 
have you and my boy back with me again. 

103 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

We shall stay together now and never part 
again.” 

“ Dear Mary Ellen,” said the princess, kiss- 
ing her again and again. “ The baby looks 
just fine. I know you have taken good care 
of him.” 

Then they all sat down. Every one wanted 
to talk at once and ask questions all at once 
and hear everything all at once. 

The Red-haired Boy told his adventures 
from the very beginning and Mary Ellen told 
what had happened to her after she left the 
castle. 

Then the princess told how the old queen 
had died and set all the charms free and the 
doctor told how they had all come home 
again. 

For this was home. They w^ere all back in 
the town where they used to live, the town 
where Mary Ellen and the Red-haired Boy 
had coasted down the long hill early in the 
winter. 

It was the same town where Mary Ellen 
had worked so hard and been so lonely and 
unhappy. But she could never be so again. 
For the doctor and his wife said they could 
never let her go away from them and that she 
must live with them and be their own little 
girl, just as she had been in the little house of 
snow. 


104 


CHAPTER XXII 


MARY ELLEN’S AUNT 

“ 'I ^ON’T you remember the first night 
I 1 came to us, Mary Ellen ? ” 
asked Mrs. Fox that night as she 
tucked Mary Ellen into the big spare bed and 
kissed her good-night. “ You were so fright- 
ened because you thought we were real ani- 
mals and might eat you.” 

“ Yes,” answered Mary Ellen. “ I remem- 
ber how frightened I was just at the first 
minute I saw you. But just as soon as you 
spoke, I knew you were kind and good and I 
was not so much frightened.” 

“ How glad we were to see you, dear. You 
will never know how happy it made us to 
have you with us. At that time I often used 
to think we should never have our own son 
and daughter with us again and the only hap- 
piness I had was in taking you for my own 
little girl.” 

“ Oh, Mother Fox,” said Mary Ellen, sit- 
ting up in the bed and putting her arms 
around Mrs. Fox’s neck and hugging her in 
the same old way, “ never, never let me leave 
you. I was so afraid that when you got your 
105 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

own son and daughter back you would not 
want me any more.” 

“ Darling Mary Ellen,” exclaimed Mrs. 
Fox, “ you are as much my own dear child as 
they are. Do you think I could ever forget 
how you braved the dangers of the castle of 
snow and nursed the princess back to life and 
health ? No indeed, dear, you must stay with 
us for ever and ever.” 

“ I shall go in the morning and tell my 
aunt that I am going to stay with you after 
this,” said Mary Ellen. 

Then Mrs. Fox left her and Mary Ellen fell 
back on the pillows and in another minute 
was fast asleep. For she was very tired and 
the big soft bed felt very good to her as she 
had not slept in a bed since the last night in 
the castle. Now it seemed as if all her 
troubles and hard journeys were over and 
done with and she could sleep and eat and 
live like other children. So Mary Ellen 
dreamed happy dreams and rested well. 

When she awoke in the morning she 
wondered for a moment where she was. As 
soon as she remembered, she jumped gaily out 
of bed, dressed herself and ran down-stairs, 
thinking of the first morning when she woke 
up in the little house of snow. 

She found the princess and Mrs. Fox wait- 
ing for her in the dining-room. 

106 


MARY ELLEN’S AUNT 

“ Good-morning,” said Mrs. Fox, just as 
she had said it that first morning in the 
house of snow. “ Have you had enough 
sleep? ” 

“ Yes, ma’am,” answered Mary Ellen. 
“ Good-morning, Princess, and good-morning 
you precious, .precious baby,” bending over 
the cradle and kissing the baby who was 
laughing and crowing and punching at the 
air. 

” Nobody will call me Princess any more,” 
said the princess laughing. ” The castle and 
all my husband’s people are gone and we are 
back in an every-day, ordinary American 
town. So after this we shall be just plain Mr. 
and Mrs. Snow.” 

“ You will always be the princess to me,” 
cried Mary Ellen. “ I shall never call 3mu 
anything else.” 

It was so late when Mary Ellen awoke that 
every one else had eaten breakfast. The doc- 
tor had started on his rounds and the Red- 
haired Boy had gone out to find some of the 
other town boys and tell them about his won- 
derful adventures. 

When Mary Ellen had eaten, she stood up 
and looked out of the window for a moment. 

” I must go and tell my aunt some time, so 
I might as well go and have it over,” she said 
with a sigh. 


107 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ Yes, dear,” said Mrs. Fox. “ 1 was just 
going to say that you ought to go to see her. 
She has probably worried a good deal while 
you were away and it is only right that she 
should know you are alive and well taken 
care of.” 

So Mary Ellen put on her hat and coat and 
started for her aunt’s house. The streets 
looked strange to her although it was only a 
few months since she had speeded through 
the town in the chopping bowl. She laughed 
now as she thought of it. 

“ How frightened I was,” she thought. 
“ How I wanted the chopping bowl to stop. 
If I had only known what was before me ! 
Well, in spite of all the danger and trouble I 
have been through, I am very, very glad I 
went, because, as the doctor said, everything 
did turn out for the best and I got a hundred 
times more happiness out of my adventures 
than trouble or hardship.” 

Mary Ellen had never gone in through the 
front door at her aunt’s house and it did not 
occur to her to go in that way now. She 
quietly walked around to the back, opened 
the kitchen door and stepped in. 

‘‘Mercy on us,” screamed her aunt, flopping 
into the nearest chair. “ Mary Ellen, is it you 
or is it your ghost ? ” 

“ It is not my ghogt,” answered Mary 
108 


MARY ELLEN’S AUNT 


Ellen. “ It is really I, alive and well and 
happy.” 

“ Alive and well and happy ! ” cried her 
aunt. “It is very easy for you to walk in on 
me and frighten me to death and then say 
you are alive and well and happy. Where 
have you been all this time? That is the 
question I should like to ask. How dare you 
go away like that without saying a word to 
me and leave me to do all the work alone.” 

“ I could not help it, aunt. The chopping 
bowl just took me.” 

“ I heard about that chopping bowl affair,” 
said her aunt sternly. “ Fine doings, I must 
say, for the child I raised to steal my chopping 
bowl and run off with it.” 

“ I did not run off with it,” cried Mary 
Ellen. “It ran off with me. And oh, I did 
not steal it, indeed I did not. I will bring 
it back to you to-morrow and if it is not as 
good as when I took it away, the doctor will 
buy you a new one.” 

“ This is a queer business,” said the aunt. 
“ Who is the doctor and what has he got to do 
with my chopping bowl ? ” 

“ I could never explain everything to you,” 
said Mary Ellen, “so I am not going to try. 
But I have been living with Dr. and Mrs. 
Fox in another place ever since I went 
away and now they have come back and I 
109 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

am still going to live with them on Spring 
Street.” 

“ Are you, indeed ? ” cried her aunt. “ And 
what do you think I am going to do? ” 

Mary Ellen could think of no answer to 
this, so she kept silent. 

“ Do you think I am always going to let 
you do just as you please? Do you think I 
shall let you run off whenever you please and 
come back when you please and then tell me 
you are going to live with somebody else? ” 

Still Mary Ellen was silent. 

“ Who is going to do the work for me if you 
go to stay with this doctor? No, Mary Ellen, 
I have had a hard enough time while you 
were away and now that you are back I shall 
take good care that you never go again. Take 
off your hat and coat and forget all this non- 
sense you have been telling me. Make up 
your mind to stay, for stay you must.” 

“ Oh, aunt,” cried Mary Ellen, “ do not 
make me stay. Do not keep me away from 
the doctor and his wife who were so good to 
me and who want me so much. Please, please 
let me go to the people I love and with whom 
I was so happy.” 

“ Do not tease,” answered her aunt. “ It is 
of no use. Take off your hat and coat and 
make up your mind to stay. In a few days 
you will forget all about these strange people.” 

110 


MARY ELLEN’S AUNT 

“ I can never, never forget them,” sobbed 
Mary Ellen. 

Poor Mary Ellen. She begged and im- 
plored, but her aunt still said no. 

“Just let me go to tell them, then,” she 
begged at last. “Oh, they will think I have 
deserted them if I do not go back. Just let 
me tell them.” 

“ No,” said her aunt. “ If I let you go, you 
might never come back and I might never see 
you again. Take off your hat and coat and 
peel the potatoes and set the table and you 
will soon settle down and be just as happy 
with me as you ever were.” 

There was no way Mary Ellen could see of 
getting away, so she had to obey her aunt and 
stay. 


Ill 


CHAPTER XXIII 


HAPPY FOREVER AFTER 

A ll day Mrs. Fox watched and waited 
and wondered why Mary Ellen did 
not come. 

“ Do you think she made up her mind to 
stay with her aunt?” asked the doctor anx- 
iously, when he got home for dinner and Mary 
Ellen had not appeared. 

“ There is something keeping her,” answered 
Mrs. Fox. “Mary Ellen would never stay 
away from us like this unless something had 
happened.” 

“ If she does not come pretty soon,” said 
the doctor, “ I shall go to her aunt’s house 
and find out what is keeping her.” 

They waited until half-past eight and as 
she had not come the doctor and his wife 
started out to look for her. 

When they rang the hell, her aunt came to 
the door. 

“ Yes, Mary Ellen is here,” she said, “ and 
she is going to stay here. She is my niece and 
I am not going to give her up to strangers.” 

“ We must have her,” said the doctor firmly. 
112 


HAPPY FOREVER AFTER 

“ Oh, please let her come home with ns,” 
said Mrs. Fox. “ We love her as much as our 
own children and can never be happy without 
her.” 

“ No,” said the aunt. “ I cannot get along 
without her. There is a great deal of work to 
be done here and Mary Ellen is the only one 
I have ever had to help me.” 

Well, they talked and talked and talked. 
The aunt was bound to keep Mary Ellen and 
the doctor was bound to get her. 

“ 1 would give you a thousand dollars to- 
morrow,” said the doctor at last, “ if you 
would only give up all claims and let us 
adopt her as our own little girl.” 

The aunt thought this offer over for a few 
moments, then said : 

“ If I thought you would keep your promise 
and really meant that, I might let you have 
her.” 

“ Of course I mean it,” cried the doctor ea- 
gerly. “ You know Avho I am now and I 
assure you you shall have the money in the 
morning.” 

“Well,” said the aunt, “ Mary Ellen is in 
bed now, but you send the money in the 
morning and I will let you have her.” 

“ Can’t we see the child to-night for just a 
moment?” asked Mrs. Fox, who was anxious 
to see that Mary Ellen was all right. 

113 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 


“ You can take a look at her,” answered the 
aunt crossly, “ if you think it will do you any 
good. I am sure I do not see what makes 
you like her so much. She always seemed 
just like every other child to rrie, more bother 
than she was worth.” 

“ She is the best child that ever lived,” 
cried Mrs. Fox indignantly. “ She is no bother 
at all, but is a great help and comfort to every- 
body because she is so sensible.” 

The aunt took Dr. Fox and his wife into 
Mary Ellen’s bedroom. They went in very 
quietly because they thought Mary Ellen 
would be sleeping. She was lying on the bed, 
but she was not sleeping. As they opened 
the door they heard a smothered sob. 

Mary Ellen,” cried Mrs. Fox. “ Little 
Mary Ellen, do not cry, my poor darling. 
We have come to take you home with 
us.” 

“We said we could never let you go,” said 
the doctor’s deep voice, “ and we won’t.” 

For a moment Mary Ellen did not turn to 
look at them as she thought she must have 
fallen asleep and was dreaming. But when 
she did turn her head and look up at them 
she found it was no dream. 

It was true. Oh, it was true. The doctor 
and his wife could not get along without 
her and had come to take her home. In a 
114 


HAPPY FOREVER AFTER 


moment she had jumped out of bed and 
started to pull her slioes on. 

“ Get back into bed,” cried her aunt. “ You 
are not to go until morning.” 

“Take me to-night,” begged Mary Ellen, 
looking from the doctor to his wife. “ I shall 
not sleep all night if I stay here.” 

Mrs. Fox sat down on the bed and put her 
arms around Mary Ellen. 

“ Please let us have her to-night,” she said 
to the aunt. 

“ Well, if she is so anxious to go, take her,” 
cried the aunt. “ That is all the thanks I get 
for raising her. She turns from me to a 
stranger.” 

But no one who saw the cross, sour face of 
the aunt could blame Mary Ellen for turning 
to the kind, motherly Mrs. Fox. 

It only took Mary Ellen a moment to dress 
and then, with the doctor on one side and 
Mrs. Fox on the other, she left her aunt’s 
house forever. 

“ You can sleep in the spare bedroom to- 
night, dear,” said Mrs. Fox. “ But as long as 
our home is going to be your home we must 
fix up a cozy little room for you to have all 
for your own.” 

“That will be lovely,” said Mary Ellen. 
“ Do vou know how I should like it fixed 
up?” . . 


115 


THE HOUSE OF THE RED FOX 

“ No, dear, but it shall be just as you wish. 
How would you like it?” 

“ I should like it furnished just like my 
room in the castle of snoW. That was such a 
pretty little room.” 

“ Very well,” said Mrs. Fox. “ To-morrow 
you and the princess can go down-town and 
get the furniture.” 

So the next day Mary Ellen and the princess 
went down and bought white wall paper and 
white carpet with blue flowers, blue and white 
striped curtains, a little white bed, a little 
white dressing-table, and two little white 
chairs. Then they flxed her bedroom up 
and if you had stepped into it you would have 
thought it was the blue and white room in 
the castle of snow. 

So Mary Ellen was never unhappy or lonely 
again. The doctor and his wife were like a 
father and mother to her, the princess was 
like a dear big sister, the Red-haired Boy a 
jolly good brother, and the baby was the 
sweetest and best baby that ever lived. As 
for Mary Ellen herself, you may be sure that 
she grew up sensible and unselfish and repaid 
a hundredfold all the kindness she received 
from her dear friends. 


116 


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